Sony Music Gives
A Commitment to Supporting Communities
Globally and Locally
The Sony Music Gives program was established in early April 2020 in response to the devastating effects of COVID-19. Its broad mission is to affect change in communities that need it most, inside and outside the music industry.
- April 2, 2020
- April 14, 2020
- April 21, 2020
- May 18, 2020
- June 5, 2020
- June 9, 2020
- August 14, 2020
- November 17, 2020
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Sony Global Relief Fund
The $100 million Sony Global Relief Fund is announced in response to COVID-19. -
Employee Matching Program
Rob Stringer, Chairman of Sony Music Group, introduces a donation matching program across the entire Sony Music Group organization for global employees. -
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday, a 2:1 employee matching program designed to raise awareness and funds for local and global food banks, is added under the Sony Music Gives umbrella. -
Community Cares
Community Cares joins Giving Tuesday as a new branch of Sony Music Gives, focusing on providing support and relief aid to underserved and overlooked communities affected most by COVID-19, beginning in the U.S. -
Global Social Justice Fund
Sony Music Group announces a $100 million fund to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world. -
EQUAL JUSTICE EMPLOYEE MATCHING PROGRAM
The Equal Justice Campaign joins Giving Tuesday as a new chapter of Sony Music Gives, designed to match all employee donations to a list of organizations supporting anti-racist initiatives around the world. -
YOUR VOICE, YOUR POWER, YOUR VOTE
Sony Music Group announces a non-partisan civic initiative designed to help educate and offer resources about registering to vote, getting to the polls in November and making a difference in communities across the U.S. -
SEASON OF GIVING
For the holiday season, Sony Music launches a Season of Giving, designed to strengthen support efforts as a community and match all employee donations – dollar for dollar – to a list of charities around the world.
Sony Global Relief Fund
On April 2, the $100 million Global Relief Fund launched, and is designed to bring relief to medical workers on the front lines; protect children and educators facing challenges arising from school closures; and support creators, artists and other partners in the entertainment community who have been impacted by COVID-19.
Rob Stringer, Chairman of Sony Music Group, commented about Sony Music Group’s work as part of the Global Relief Fund here.
Employee Matching Program
On April 14, a 1:1 matching program was implemented, dedicated to helping the communities most directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sony Music matched full-time employee charitable donations dollar-for-dollar to a select group of more than 100 global organizations throughout the months of April and May.
Giving Tuesday launched the following week. Every Tuesday, during the months of April and May, Sony Music Group matched 2:1 any employee donation made to a select group of food banks around the world, helping to feed families facing food insecurity.
Community Cares
On May 18, Community Cares launched, with a goal of bringing awareness and aid to communities around the world that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The support from Community Cares will come in the form of financial assistance, outreach programs and opportunities for employee and artist engagement and ongoing connections between Sony Music and music communities around the country.
Beginning in the U.S., Sony Music Group partnered with leading national and international organizations: Operation USA and The National Urban League. Each partnership is designed to raise awareness and provide relief aid to vulnerable communities throughout the United States.
Through individual grants, Operation USA will support local Black and Hispanic community-based nonprofit organizations with relief efforts that focus on music and the arts as well as education, mental health and food insecurity in the hardest hit areas across the country. Current grant recipients include organizations within Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans and New York. Additional cities and communities in the U.S. and abroad will continue to be added.
Social Justice Fund
On June 5, Sony Music Group announced the launch of a $100 million fund to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world. The Company, inclusive of all of its recorded music and content divisions and music publishing company, immediately began to donate to organizations that foster equal rights.
In making the announcement, Rob Stringer, Chairman, Sony Music Group, said, “Racial injustice is a global issue that affects our artists, songwriters, our people and of course society at large. We stand against discrimination everywhere and we will take action accordingly with our community fully involved in effectively using these funds.”
Equal Justice Employee Matching Program
Throughout the month of June, the Company reinstated its Giving Tuesday program, branded Equal Justice. The initiative was designed to raise awareness and support anti-racist initiatives around the world. All employee donations were matched – every Tuesday – to a list of more than 80 organizations dedicated to fostering equal rights and impacting long-term change.
Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote
In August, Sony Music Group launched a U.S. voter campaign committed to empowering and energizing communities around the electoral process and strengthening democracy. With Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote, the Company invited everyone to exercise their right to vote and offered critical tools and information for employees, artists and songwriters to share across their networks.
To ensure all U.S. SMG employees had the opportunity to vote and encourage others to vote, the Company observed a full paid day on Election Day, November 3.
As part of the campaign’s work to close the race and age voting gap, Sony Music partnered with key partners including Rock The Vote, When We All Vote, Color of Change, Voto Latino, Movement Voter Fund, Black Futures Lab, APIA Vote and The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC).
Season of Giving
Beginning November 17, Sony Music Group brought back the Giving Tuesday employee donation matching program through the end of 2020. The Season of Giving campaign occurred every Tuesday as part of SMG’s COVID Global Relief Fund.
A list of charities around the world – ranging from food banks to shelters to educational services – was provided. All full-time regular employees were eligible to have their donations matched, without a minimum or maximum donation.
The Giving Tuesday initiative joined the Company’s previous successful campaigns as well as additional philanthropic impacts we’ve made to effect change in 2020.
Partner Organizations
COVID-19 Relief Fund
The list below identifies partner organizations that Sony Music Group has dedicated funds to in order to help communities most directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Art House Studio
- ACM Lifting Lives
- Banco de Alimentos Panama
- BPI’s Help Musicians Fund
- Broadway Cares/Sing Street Broadway production
- CRUSA (via Costa Rican American Chamber of Commerce)
- DGS
- First Music Contact Hardship Fund
- Food Bank of Portugal
- Food Bank of Spain (Fesbal)
- Living Legends Foundation
- Luta Pela Paz
- Metro Nashville Public Schools + PPE
- Music Venues Trust Coronavirus Fund
- Música Mexico COVID-19
- MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund
- Muzology
- Nashville Songwriters Association International
- National Urban League (NUL)
- OperationUSA
- PAHO (Pan American Health Organization)
- PRS Emergency Relief Fund
- Red Cross Argentina
- Red Cross Chile
- Red Cross Portugal (Cruz Vermelha)
- Red Cross Spain
- Redes da Mare
- SACM
- Salvation Army
- Scena Unita
- Songwriters of North America
- Stagehand
- Sur Futuro
- UJA’s COVID-19 fund
- Unison Benevolent Fund and its COVID-19 Fund for Canada
- Yo Me Corono
Social Justice Fund
Together with our community partners, Sony Music Group has donated funds to help strengthen the fight for social injustice. A list of charities working with the Company can be found below.
- 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee
- A Better Change
- A Place Called Home
- Advancement Project
- Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote)
- Backline
- Beats by Girlz
- Black and Pink
- Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association
- Black Futures Lab
- Black Trans Advocacy Coalition
- Boys & Girls Club of Middle Tennessee
- Bronx Defenders
- Building Beats
- Campaign Legal Center
- Center for Policing Equity
- Centurion
- City Harvest
- Community Coalition
- Creative Girls Rock
- Dream Hustle Code
- Everyone Has a Story
- Faith in Action
- Family and Children’s Association
- Food Bank for NYC
- Foundation for Arkansas Heritage and History
- Gideon’s Army
- Hancock-French Woods Arts Alliance
- HeadCount
- Heffernan Youth Services, Inc.
- Here to Here
- Highlander Research & Education Center, Inc.
- HomeFront NJ
- Kayd Foundation
- LIFE Camp, Inc.
- Living Legends Foundation
- Los Angeles Mission
- Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
- Make the Road New York
- Midori Foundation
- Morehouse College
- Movement Voter Fund
- MusiCares
- My Friend’s Place
- Nashville Public Education Foundation
- National Black Justice Coalition
- National CARES Mentoring Movement
- National Interfaith Cable Coalition, Inc.
- National Museum of African American Music
- New Jersey SEEDS
- New Music USA
- New York Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project Inc.
- Nvak Foundation
- Partners Uplifting Our Daughters and Sons
- Pay Away the Layaway
- PENCIL Foundation
- Precious Dreams Foundation
- Pretty Brown Girl
- Project Libertad
- Project Prosper of Florida
- Project Roussau
- Public Policy and Education Fund of New York
- Race Forward
- Ricky Davis Legacy Foundation
- Rock The Vote
- Rockteen Youth Foundation
- S.W.I.F.T. Youth
- Savannah State University
- Save The Music
- Silence The Shame
- Silicon Valley De-Bug
- Sunrise Day Camps Association, Inc.
- Teens for Food Justice
- The Directors Company: Next Wave Initiative
- The Eagle Academy Foundation
- The Historic Society
- The Original Ducks Youth Football Organization
- The Loveland Foundation
- The National Black Women’s Justice Institute
- The Sphinx Organization
- The Studio Museum in Harlem
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund
- Together Rising
- Trap Garden
- Turning Tables Germany
- Urban Arts Partnership
- Vote.org
- Voto Latino
- When We All Vote
- WhyHunger
- Women’s Audio Mission