Yesterday, Oct. 31, the Red Bull Music Academy officially ended after hosting 21 years of lectures, showcases, concerts and content with forward-thinking artists across the globe. Now, all of their content—over 500 lectures, as well as deep-dive features, interviews and other videos—is available for free on their website.
In the rich database of lectures alone, you can find conversations with GRAMMY winners D' Angelo, Questlove, Bootsy Collins, Boi-1da and GRAMMY nominees Björk, Pusha T and Robyn, to name a few.
The archive showcases the extensive content library organized by categories like "Chicago: House and hip-hop, footwork and Frankie Knuckles: Examining the abundance of talent born and bred in the Windy City." Here you can find a feature examining the influence of Chicago and Detroit's underground house scenes on current-day techno, as well as Chicago house legend Larry Heard's 2018 RBMA lecture.
Other archive categories include "Beat-Making: The stories behind our favorite beats and beat-makers," "Afrofuturism: Reimagining black history and exploring black features in music" and "DIY: Stories and lectures showcasing resourceful creativity."
The company will continue to offer music programming and events in a more decentralized, locally focused fashion with their Red Bull Music arm. Back in April, they announced their plan to discontinuing RBMA and Red Bull Radio and split with Yadastar, the creative and marketing agency that led the two programs.
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Launched back in 1998, RBMA tapped hundreds of emerging and established avant-garde musicians, producers and more to share their music, stories and knowledge, giving them a well-regarded platform to connect with other creatives and fans.
The main event was the annual "Academy," where "artists from around the world came together in a different host city to learn from musical luminaries—and each other—and collaborate in custom-built studios," according to the website. In addition to the annual event, RBMA hosted their own festivals, stages at other events, club nights, workshops and Red Bull Radio.
As Pitchfork pointed out, "acts including Flying Lotus, SOPHIE, Objekt and Nina Kraviz benefitted to various degrees from a broad infrastructure that included international concerts and festivals as well as access to high-end equipment and studios."
You can visit redbullmusicacademy.com to dive into the archive.
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