Arms and Sleepers - Crisis Fund
Donation protected
These are very tough times for a lot of people - first and foremost for those with immediate health risks, but also for those feeling financially vulnerable. Many industries are severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, and those working in the music industry are definitely feeling economic hardship right now - and will for months to come.
Arms and Sleepers is one of many artists that was forced to cancel/postpone shows due to the current situation, which means less income and a lot of hours spent on organizing and preparing for these shows - hours that will now go unpaid. I (Mirza, one half of Arms and Sleepers) do most things myself, including some live bookings, travel bookings, logistics, management, and of course writing music (6 official releases in 2020) and performing that music live (7 months of tours/shows originally planned for 2020). It's a lot, and I work very hard just like a lot of other people. Unfortunately, there is no paid time off right now and I am looking at thousands of dollars of lost earnings.
Ultimately, Arms and Sleepers will be ok and I have tried to prepare for situations like this by "saving" (I include quotes here because saving for artists is pretty much a joke because it is a fantasy because, well, $0.005 per stream on Spotify ain't gonna give you a lot of savings). BUT we also work with a lot of people who are even more hard hit right now: booking agents that have 0 income at the moment because all shows are canceled, live musicians and sound engineers who rely on touring and there are 0 tours right now, and so on. Lots of 0s when it comes to money, and that REALLY SUCKS.
So we are appealing to our fans, listeners, friends and anyone else to help us raise at least $3,000 in the midst of this crisis, money which I will distribute to our colleagues that are impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and some of which I will keep for Arms and Sleepers to make up for lost income. For those of you familiar with Arms and Sleepers, you might know that we've done two successful Kickstarter campaigns in the past, and I was not planning on doing another crowdfunding campaign because, well, asking for money is not always a good feeling. But this is a really tough situation, and I am saddened by stories from my friends who are truly devastated by what's happened to their jobs and their wallets. I wanted to do something, and so here we are. Help them and help us by donating to this fundraiser, and thank you, as always, for supporting independent music and musicians.
To show gratitude for your donation of any amount, Arms and Sleepers will write and send you new music once the initial goal is reached. Not sure what this will entail, perhaps a few songs, perhaps an EP, but it will be something brand new that will only be available to you. No digital streaming services, no Bandcamp, no anything - just a download link sent to you. This will be on top of the 6 releases already planned for 2020, so don't worry, there will be plenty of other music too.
That's it - thanks for reading, and please be safe and kind to each other. And if you can afford to, please support the arts - they are hurting right now.
Arms and Sleepers is one of many artists that was forced to cancel/postpone shows due to the current situation, which means less income and a lot of hours spent on organizing and preparing for these shows - hours that will now go unpaid. I (Mirza, one half of Arms and Sleepers) do most things myself, including some live bookings, travel bookings, logistics, management, and of course writing music (6 official releases in 2020) and performing that music live (7 months of tours/shows originally planned for 2020). It's a lot, and I work very hard just like a lot of other people. Unfortunately, there is no paid time off right now and I am looking at thousands of dollars of lost earnings.
Ultimately, Arms and Sleepers will be ok and I have tried to prepare for situations like this by "saving" (I include quotes here because saving for artists is pretty much a joke because it is a fantasy because, well, $0.005 per stream on Spotify ain't gonna give you a lot of savings). BUT we also work with a lot of people who are even more hard hit right now: booking agents that have 0 income at the moment because all shows are canceled, live musicians and sound engineers who rely on touring and there are 0 tours right now, and so on. Lots of 0s when it comes to money, and that REALLY SUCKS.
So we are appealing to our fans, listeners, friends and anyone else to help us raise at least $3,000 in the midst of this crisis, money which I will distribute to our colleagues that are impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and some of which I will keep for Arms and Sleepers to make up for lost income. For those of you familiar with Arms and Sleepers, you might know that we've done two successful Kickstarter campaigns in the past, and I was not planning on doing another crowdfunding campaign because, well, asking for money is not always a good feeling. But this is a really tough situation, and I am saddened by stories from my friends who are truly devastated by what's happened to their jobs and their wallets. I wanted to do something, and so here we are. Help them and help us by donating to this fundraiser, and thank you, as always, for supporting independent music and musicians.
To show gratitude for your donation of any amount, Arms and Sleepers will write and send you new music once the initial goal is reached. Not sure what this will entail, perhaps a few songs, perhaps an EP, but it will be something brand new that will only be available to you. No digital streaming services, no Bandcamp, no anything - just a download link sent to you. This will be on top of the 6 releases already planned for 2020, so don't worry, there will be plenty of other music too.
That's it - thanks for reading, and please be safe and kind to each other. And if you can afford to, please support the arts - they are hurting right now.
Organizer
Mirza Ramic
Organizer
Newton, MA
