Deezer’s new ‘Black Culture’ channel shines a spotlight on black creators
Deezer’s new channel will feature hundreds of tracks and podcasts from black artists around the globe at a prescient time for black awareness.
The new ‘Black Culture’ channel is now available for Deezer users wherever their streaming service is available around the world. With recent events, particularly the death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer, amplifying the conversations around contemporary race relations, Deezer say they are reinforcing their commitment to black artists and podcasters.
Their new channel features entirely black artists, from ‘100% playlists’ made up entirely of the music of some of the greatest artists like Nina Simone and Beyoncé to playlists full of iconic black artists – like the top 50 songs from black pop artists. Their Editors Picks selection will also feature the favourite new releases from Deezer’s tastemakers.
They’re looking to highlight the incredible artists outside of the US and Europe as well with playlists featuring some of the greatest Jamaican and African artists among other countries’ unique and brilliant musical outputs. Presenting the voice of black creators and producers, Deezer are highlighting podcasts like ‘Black Girl Podcast’ and ‘Pod Save the People’ among many others including podcasts revolving around anti-racist discussions and activism.
In an effort to change the language surrounding music created by black peoples Deezer ditched the term ‘urban’ as a classification last month. They say that the language is outdated and have banned the catch-all time in their internal discussions and particularly for use on their platform.
Junior Foster, Deezer’s Head of Global Artist Relations and the Global Editor for the new channel, says: “We support the BLM movement. Throughout history, black musicians have been making music the world loves. In more recent years, black podcast creators have hosted chart-topping shows.
“Yet not all black creators are getting the attention and respect they deserve. We want to make sure that there is a permanent space on Deezer where we can highlight black talent globally.”