News

Teenage Engineering is launching a revenue-share scheme for Black and POC artists.

The Swedish hardware company, known best for the OP-1 synthesizer, has announced that from the 1st September 2021 a new revenue-share scheme will redirect 15% of sales from special links to the likes of Baseck, legendary techno outfit Underground Resistance, and Suzi Analogue.

The scheme has been given the title “artist fellowships”, Teenage Engineering told The Times, and described the scheme as “a bold statement to recognize and quantify the contributions of artists of color.”  

Although Teenage Engineering didn’t give specific terms of the deals for the new program, the company said that the artist share “could be anywhere from $100,000 a year to, in some cases, close to a million dollars a year.” More artists are expected to be announced.

The music industry has mobilised to support black communities and initiatives in the fight for social justice and racial equality. The Grammys and Republic Records both recently dropped the term “Urban” from their categories, and BMG announced they would be reviewing all historical record contracts for any racial inequities.