COVID-19: Spotify adds fundraising feature for artists

In this way artists can raise funds to support themselves, their bands, crew members or other musicians. There is also an option to raise funds for a specific initiative through any of the verified organisations participating in the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief project.

To add the fundraising service on a profile, Spotify for Artists admins can click on 'Get Started' on the blue promotional banner at the top of their dashboard. Any payments will take place on third-party sites, and Spotify will not take a cut of the transactions.

“Given the urgency and impact of the COVID-19 crisis, we’re working as quickly as we can to develop this new product and get it out to as many artists as possible,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “However, we’ve never built a fundraising feature like this before. We consider this a first version that will evolve as we learn how to make it as helpful as possible for the music community.”

For the launch of Artist Fundraising Pick, Spotify partnered with services such as Cash App, GoFundMe and PayPal.me to make the donation process easier.

Cash App also pledged $1m in cash relief for artists in the US and the UK. Spotify for Artists users in the two countires will receive an extra $100 in their account from Cash App, with a donation ceiling of $1m, after the artist secures one contribution through the new service.

Spotify is following through on its promise after last month’s announcement that it had launched the COVID-19 Relief Fund. The company has also indicated that it's working on another fundraising feature, among other changes, to support affected artists during this period.

There has been a surge in online fundraising initiatives for artists since income streams have been drying up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In South Africa, online donation platform BUSQR was launched to help musicians and performers generate live-streaming income through QR codes.