This spring we’re supporting the Musicians’ Union with Levy Market Mixtapes which sees a host of local record labels, venues and other independent music organisations each putting together a playlist for the market. We’ll be releasing a new mixtape each week and asking you to donate to the Musicians’ Union Coronavirus Hardship Fund.
You’ll find another award-winning market popping up in the neighbourhood tomorrow, with our local train station car park transforming into an independent shopping centre offering some of the North West’s finest food, drink, arts, crafts and more, all in the heart of Levenshulme.
And here to soundtrack your shopping experience is the latest playlist in our Levy Market Mixtapes series: pop for your shopping, bangers for your browsing. And all of it available to listen to both at the market and while you’re sat at home enjoying the heck out of your purchases.
This week we’re very excited to bring you a selection of tracks curated by none other than Salt Magazine, Manchester’s much-loved independent magazine which works so hard to showcase music, arts and culture in the area.
Salt is an editorially and financially independent publication, relying entirely on readers’ subscriptions and donations rather than advertising. They don’t churn out the usual fast news and press releases, instead taking in a broad view of the our city’s ever evolving music scene.
Their mixtape reflects this spirit, with tracks from Manchester artists old and new – you’ll find newcomers like Kestrel Palace and Ruf Dug alongside classics from 808 State and The Durutti Column – as well as some tunes from further afield.
You can enjoy via Spotify right here.
And remember: all of this music was written and recorded by artists who, for over a year, have not been able to perform live. At all. This is the main source of income for almost all musical artists and the lifeforce of the UK music industry. So if you like a song you hear – why not buy the artist’s record? Did you also know that Spotify, while it has a reputation for not being the most lucrative platform for its artists, now allows them to feature a ‘Fundraising Pick’ link on the top of their Spotify profiles, allowing you to pay them direct for their music? You could even support Salt by taking out a subscription from as little as £3 a month.
More urgently, you can also donate to the Musicians’ Union Coronavirus Hardship Fund which we’re asking all our customers to support if they can this spring.
The Musicians’ Union provides small grants of £200 to musicians in urgent financial hardship. They have distributed over £1.3M to members via their hardship grants since April 2020, but there are many more who are still in dire financial circumstances.
So when you visit the market at the weekend, please enjoy listening to the sounds of your city, take them home with you and make a donation if you can – anything at all can make a difference. We’re all looking forward to live music returning later this year – let’s do what we can to ensure that there are people there to play for us.
