Apple Music Joins Music Industry's Blackout Tuesday Awareness Campaign

Apple Music has cancelled its Beats 1 radio schedule for Blackout Tuesday and is suggesting that listeners tune in to a radio stream celebrating the best in black music.

apple music black out tuesday
Blackout Tuesday is a campaign organized by the music industry to support Black Lives Matter after Minneapolis citizen George Floyd was killed by police in the course of his arrest.

On launching ‌Apple Music‌, many users on Mac and iOS devices are today being met with a message replacing the usual For You, Browse, and Radio sections, along with a Listen Together button that links to the aforementioned station.

In steadfast support of the Black voices that define music, creativity, and culture, we use ours. This moment calls upon us all to speak and act against racism and injustice of all kinds. We stand in solidarity with Black communities everywhere. #TheShowMustBePaused
#BlackLivesMatter

Otherwise, the ‌Apple Music‌ service is operating as usual. Users are still able to access their music library and search the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog.


Following the unrest in numerous U.S. cities after last week's killing of George Floyd, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday addressed the pain that many are feeling and urged others to commit "to creating a better, more just world for everyone."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

FlyGuyDEN Avatar
54 months ago
Oh wow...complaining about a disruption in Apple Music. Imagine if your entire life (or existence) was interrupted by a bad cop due to the color of your skin.

PAY ATTENTION. THE WORLD IS SPEAKING. LISTEN. UP.
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Binarymix Avatar
54 months ago
Hmmm it's pride month, is Apple going to make us listen to Scissor Sisters, Elton John and Cher for the rest of the month? (I'm gay, just making a point.)

I'm all about advocacy, and speaking out, but a company shouldn't FORCE its views on others. There should be an opt out, for those not wanting to be involved.
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marco123 Avatar
54 months ago
Honestly, I prefer when tech companies stay out of politics.
In only a few days we have new gay pride bands and services being taken over with black lives matter slogans but we’ll raise MacBook Ram prices by double.
I watch and read the news so I’m well aware of what’s happening in the world.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
54 months ago
They stay silent in China when the Chinese government commits atrocities against large groups of people. I guess that is okay. All about the $$.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ethosik Avatar
54 months ago

Oh wow...complaining about a disruption in Apple Music. Imagine if your entire life (or existence) was interrupted by a bad cop due to the color of your skin.

PAY ATTENTION. THE WORLD IS SPEAKING. LISTEN. UP.
I really find it insulting and inappropriate to block features for paying customers. Regardless of what is going on in the world, people listen to music to relax. Being bombarded with this issue 24/7 is not good for several people's mental health that is already suffering from covid's social distancing.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
54 months ago

On launching Apple Music, many users on Mac and iOS devices are today being met with a message in the Browse and Radio tabs, along with a Listen Together button that links to the aforementioned station.
Otherwise, the Apple Music service is operating as usual. Users are still able to access their music library and search the Apple Music catalog.
I wouldn't call that "operating as usual". You can search for Apple Music playlists and play them that way, but you can't browse them or get suggestions.

I don't mean to be too insensitive to the subject matter, but that's quite a disruption for a $10/mo service (whose client app is already flaky enough as it is). Would it really have hurt to add a little 'x' to close the message and proceed to the regular browsing UI?

(edit)

Or, if disrupting the service like this is by design and a protest statement, I think the message should be clearer. Some fine print at the bottom saying "Your regular Apple Music features like Browse and For You will be back tomorrow.", maybe? Cause right now, it's just not very clear if this is the Music app being janky or a deliberate choice.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)