Red Bull is shutting down its global music studios and “all Red Bull music events are cancelled” moving forward, according to a report by Music Business Worldwide.

The report comes after three top executives were fired after the fall out of an offensive slide inserted into a presentation deck and more than 300 staff signing a letter criticizing the company’s “public silence” on Black Lives Matter. Though that’s a lot of controversy for one company, it’s not clear if the two decisions are linked.

Music Business Worldwide reports that “whistleblowers at the Austria-based company” informed them that management had revealed on July 13 that the company would be “ending all music projects.”

A Red Bull spokesperson told MBW that, despite the new cutbacks, the company would continue to run its Red Bull Records label out of the US. “Red Bull has decided to strengthen the focus of its culture marketing programs on where it makes most impact,” said the spokesperson. “Culture programs that remain will include Red Bull BC One, Red Bull Dance Your Style and Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos. Many other culture marketing activities will be discontinued.

 

The company previously closed down Red Bull Music Academy and Red Bull Radio a year ago after cutting corners on multiple projects. Red Bull even pocketed the prize money previously given to winners of the Red Bull 3Style DJ Battle – prize money which outsiders were forced to crowdsource, because any company that seeks to elevate DJ culture as part of their brand should know how important it is to pay the DJ, too.

In the end, DJ Konflikt raised over $9,000 bucks to pay Red Bull’s prize winners. His challenge to Red Bull to match this amount to pay their own contest winners went unanswered.

5 Mag reported on this and activities around other Red Bull-sponsored events back in 2018. It didn’t go over well. The #PayTheDJ hashtag was a

grassroots movement, almost totally without support from the press or well-known DJs in the House and Techno scenes. So-called “influencers” aren’t influencing shit, and that’s pretty disappointing. It’s entirely fans and working DJs who both see the importance of this and are willing to speak out on behalf of fellow DJs.

 

“Everyone, it seems, becomes a Libertarian when it comes to criticism of the dance music scene’s leading corporate benefactor,” we wrote. “Our ‘sugar water daddy,’ you could say.”

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