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Brands & Merch Business News
Red Bull Music Academy to come to an end after two decades
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 5 April 2019
Red Bull’s widely acclaimed global music education programme the Red Bull Music Academy will come to an end later this year, 21 years after it was launched.
It’s very rare for brands to remain committed to music projects for such a long time, and Red Bull’s substantial support of young music talent through the RBMA has long been lauded, even by those who really, really hate the sugary red drink that never gave anyone actual wings.
The RBMA – and the media channels that ran alongside it, like Red Bull Radio – will cease operations on 31 Oct. The shutdown comes as Red Bull ends it partnership with the brand agency that curated the education programme and its creative spin-offs, Yadastar.
Confirming that RBMA was coming to an end, Red Bull said that it would continue to support the creative community through its marketing activity but that “it is changing the means of delivery”. This principally means less global programming.
In a statement provided to Resident Advisor, the company went on: “Red Bull will be moving away from a strongly centralised approach, will gradually phase out the existing structure and will implement a new setup which empowers existing Red Bull country teams and utilises local expertise. Red Bull will continue to explore new ways to support promising and cutting-edge artists wherever they may be”.
In a post on Twitter, Yadastar said that it and Red Bull had “mutually agreed to part ways at the end of October 2019”. The company’s Torsten Schmidt and Many Ameri then paid tribute to all the people who have participated in and worked on the various RBMA projects and programmes. They added: “You have changed the way we connect with music and will continue to shape the music landscape for decades to come”.
They then wrote: “We want to thank Red Bull for the opportunity and all of its employees who have supported and realised music projects with us in local markets the world over. We know many of you have joined the company because you believe in the values we have all held up high. We are looking forward to seeing where you will take it from here”.
Red Bull already has music activity outside the RBMA programme which will continue, including the Red Bull Music Festival events.
