“Whether it’s changing lives, or just brightening your day, #MusicSaves. So show us how music changed your life, and support Save The Music, an organization dedicated to supporting music education in schools across the country.”
Last month, Save The Music launched our very first TikTok campaign called #MUSICSAVES and received an incredible response, garnering more than 100 million views in just the first few days!
Working directly with the TikTok team, Save The Music was proud to be selected as a featured hashtag on the platform’s Discover page, and was able to incorporate its new “Donate” sticker onto videos in order to activate its millions of music-obsessed users who share in our passion for ensuring every child has access to learn how to make music.
Check out some videos below and head to TikTok to follow @savethemusic and show us what music means to you!
#MUSICSAVES in the Press: Thank you to Forbes and the AFP for covering this campaign!
Snippet: Two decades after music-downloading service Napster boasted 26 million users, a new campaign from Save The Music is helping tens of millions of American teenagers continue to find comfort, and a future, in music in all new ways.
The new #MusicSaves campaign from the Save The Music Foundation has spread virally on TikTok, earning more than 174.3 million cumulative views through crowdsourced contributions from thousands of music-loving creators. TikTok boasts more than 800 million users worldwide, including an estimated 80 million in the U.S.
Hashtags are categorized a bit differently on TikTok than they are on other platforms; a search for #MusicSaves reveals a curated feed with a description from Save The Music:
“Whether it’s changing lives, or just brightening your day, #MusicSaves,” the passage reads. “So show us how music changed your life, and support Save The Music, an organization dedicated to supporting music education in schools across the country. Learn more by visiting www.savethemusic.org.”
But the #MusicSaves campaign goes well beyond the TikTok partnership. Last month, a set of three J Dilla grants were awarded in the artist’s hometown of Detroit; another set of three SongFarm music tech grants were given to schools in Nashville; Roanoke, Va.; and Sterling, Kans. To date, Save The Music has distributed 10 such grants.
Each grant includes a community-changing amount of music technology, including a full set of studio recording equipment; a sophisticated rig for an instructor; and 15 sets of student producer rigs, complete with 10.2-inch 32 GB iPads — all in a portable case that can be brought to and from school.
In addition to the grants, Save The Music launched a new Music Education Resources hub, described in a press release as “a comprehensive collection of free digital resources and tools to help teachers, students, and parents confidently utilize technology to continue music education, whether in school or at home. Featuring more than 100 music teaching and learning resources from partners, the digital library helps provide guidance for resuming in-school teaching, including new instrument hygiene and ensemble procedures; tools for virtual learning and at-home music activities for families; a collection of virtual concerts and tours; digital lessons for general music, band, choir, orchestra, and sound recording, mixing, and producing; and much more.”
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Snippet: From Lil Nas X and Jawsh 685 to Wejdene, the TikTok application has helped many musicians get their break. Now, America’s Save The Music Foundation is putting the platform to use as a means of raising awareness among the app’s 850 million users about the importance of music education.
At a time when over five million public school children in the US don’t have access to music education, the Save The Music Foundation is concerned that this figure could be increasing sharply due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Right now we are facing an existential moment for music education. Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, school budgets are being spread too thin, new safety guidelines are creating schedule restrictions for music classes, and many students still remain learning from home. For the first time in years, we literally need to save the music,” the foundation explains in a news release.
As a result, the Save the Music Foundation launched the #MusicSaves campaign on TikTok in September to raise awareness among the app’s young users about the “powerful social, emotional, and cultural benefits” that music education provides. The initiative has been met with evident success on the video sharing platform, where it counts over 164.4 million views through educational and spoof videos.
Examples include a video featuring The Roots guitarist, Captain Kirk Douglas, covering The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and a video of the Grammy-nominated songwriter, Ross Copperman, talking about the importance of the music education he received at school.