Hello again! Thank you so much to everyone who tuned into, shared, and supported our Songs with a Purpose Autism Acceptance Streamraiser, which took place on April 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! We are happy to report that across all three nights, we raised a grand total of $710, which means that we were able to donate $355 to both The Musical Autist and the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN). (Please read the Disclaimer at the end of this post regarding ASAN, and SWAP’s recent decision to no longer donate to this organization.) That is an amazing feat, and we couldn’t have done it without any of you, so once again and forever, THANK YOU!
If you were unable to attend, but would still like to watch the streamraiser in all its glory, we will be editing down all three nights into individual clips for each band/artist, and uploading those to the SWAP YouTube channel over the next coming weeks, so stay tuned! To check out and/or subscribe to our Songs With A Purpose YouTube channel!
Additionally, I wanted to let you know about something cool we like to do after every streamraiser. As a way to further promote the artists we work with, and to make more money for the organizations we’re sponsoring (The Musical Autist and your musicians, we’re talking about you!), we release a compilation album, exclusively on our Bandcamp, which features studio versions of the songs that artists performed on the streamraiser, as well as live tracks, in the case that artists haven’t officially released a studio version of their song online. If you’d like to check it out, visit https://swaprecords.bandcamp.com/!
There are 19 tracks (8 of which feature self-identifying autistic musicians, including one of TMA’s content writers, Jennifer Msumba, one of TMA’s board members, Will Swartz, TMA’s co-founder, Sunny Cefaratti, and myself, Mitchell Matthews), the album costs $20, and each song costs $1 (though, those are the minimum prices; Bandcamp rocks a pay-what-you-want model, so while you have to pay those minimum amounts to get your song/album, you can choose to pay more if you want, to further support what we’re doing and the artists/organizations involved (though, that is not required; your generosity in buying the songs/album at minimum price is more than enough)).
In terms of how we split profits up, in order to be fully transparent with you, let’s break it down based on if someone buys an individual song, versus if someone buys the entire album. If someone were to buy Jennifer’s song, “Dandelion,” 50% of the profits would go to her, 40% would be split up equally amongst The Musical Autist and the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), and 10% would go to Songs with a Purpose. If someone were to buy the entire compilation album, 50% of the profits would be split equally amongst all of the artists featured on said album, 40% would be split up equally amongst TMA and ASAN, and 10% would go to SWAP.
And, if you enjoy the Autism Acceptance Compilation Album, and are interested in any of our other compilation albums, our Christmas Streamraiser Compilation Album is still available to purchase on Bandcamp as well. The album features 5 artists who performed on our Christmas Streamraiser in December 2020, Grady Philip Drugg, Trauma Centaur, Darrian, Thames, and Rosewood, and the profits made from said album will be split up in the same manner as the Autism Acceptance Compilation Album, between the artists involved, SWAP, and two great organizations we partnered with in December: Crisis Aid International, who provide life-saving services and hope to the most vulnerable populations in St. Louis and parts of East Africa, and Southwest Missouri Solidarity Network, a grassroots mutual aid organization that serves people marginalized by capitalism, such as the large homeless population in Springfield, MO (note: our Christmas streamraiser was primarily raising money for COVID-19 relief, and both of these organizations are providing excellent means of COVID-19 relief to their respective communities).
In conclusion, as I mentioned in my last blog post, I want to thank The Musical Autist for being such a great partner to work with, and for showing me such love, and providing me with countless connections and opportunities in the short time we have been working together, including the chance to talk about our compilation album with all of you. Additionally, I want to, again, thank you, dear reader, for reading and sharing what I write, and I hope to touch base again with you soon.
DISCLAIMER: The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) [the other organization we raised money for on the Autism Acceptance Streamraiser, and originally for this compilation album] has recently come under fire for stealing the work of a BIPOC autistic creator (@autistictyping on Instagram and Twitter), and seemingly white-washing it for their own means/audience. This will be further touched on in my next blog post, which will be an interview with fellow BIPOC autistic creator Tim Boykin (@kidish_bambino on Instagram, @blackautisticking on TikTok), who previously performed on the streamraiser, but I wanted to include it here first to keep everyone in the loop. At the time of the streamraiser, this controversy had not yet taken place, so keep in mind that the first paragraph is written strictly in a past tense, and moving forward, I will be directing all the appropriate percentages made from the compilation album towards TMA, and not splitting them with ASAN.
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