Harnessing music as a force for good

Can you explain where CUE Collective grew from, how it got started, and how has it changed and grown over time?

In 2020, I founded New Amsterdam Jazz together with Isla van Hout with the mission of amplifying the Dutch jazz scene and connecting it to scenes around the world. We organized recordings, artist residencies, tours, educational projects, and more. After five years I saw the positive impact that our work had on the Dutch jazz scene, so I decided to broaden the scope, to not only serve the Netherlands nor only jazz. I’ve always been interested in how music can be a positive force and drive positive change. Therefore I rebranded NAJ to Cue Collective, which now builds platforms to bring visibility to emerging artists in different types of musical arenas around the globe, and develops music projects that drive social or environmental change.

Are there fixed parameters to that work? Limits on formats, outputs, genres for example? Or is anything that promotes emerging artists valid work for CC?

We focus on two things: visibility and impact. The visibility part we do through the development of platforms or audiovisual series that highlight musical talent around the world in different types of musical arenas. For example, we just recorded 75 musicians across 15 bands in Barcelona for the first season of The Scene Sessions, which will highlight music scenes around the world. Now, we’re preparing the first season of The Street Sessions, which will highlight street musicians around the world, and we’re starting in Paris. Other arenas I would love to highlight include The Indigenous Sessions, to highlight incredible indigenous artists, and the Worship Sessions which would focus more on spiritual music like gospel or Yoruba.

The second pillar of Cue Collective is that we’re building a library of music projects that drive positive change. Next to music, I also have a background in impact film production and I’ve always been curious about how music or musicians can best use their voices, talent, and platforms to make a difference. A lot of musicians have also come to me with that same question, so as an answer I made it a core element of Cue to build out “Positive Notes:” the first impact music library – think: partnering with NATURE on your track and having royalty streams go to nature conservation projects, writing an anthem for a non-profit working on an issue you care about, organizing an impact campaign around an album or vinyl release raising funds for a social cause.

How does a typical production or project come together? Could you walk us through it?

For our platforms or series we ideate the project and program the talent. Typically this happens through a combination of scouting and open calls, where people can apply. For our impact music projects we usually partner with musicians who approach us with an idea for a project, or with other organizations who have aligned values and missions.

What sorts of challenges are those musicians you work with facing, typically? And how do you see your work positively impacting them? Is community-building a major aspect?

Typical challenges are a lack of visibility and a lack of the type of support that can catalyze their career. For example, with the Barcelona series, we didn’t only secure massive visibility by licensing the series to a major TV station in Spain and one of the major streaming platforms, 3Cat, we also gave all the rights to the material from the sessions to the artists so they can use it to their own benefit and advantage. Adding a recording to their upcoming EP or album, for example. All too often, while musicians are the ones who bring the core value to our industry, they are not appreciated or rewarded as such. With Cue, we want to show that we can and should do things differently.

For the Barcelona series we also programmed emerging artists alongside some bigger names, which really helps with visibility and recognition.

It was great to see that the series garnered 1.5 million views in the first month after we released it. Also one emerging band – Alosa – made up of two young Catalan women singing and playing traditional Catalan folk music, but arranging it themselves, went viral on our Instagram page (which was brand new), clocking up close to a million views. It shows that people around the world appreciate authentic expressions of culture, regardless of whether it is your own culture that you see.

How major an issue is limited funding for performing arts?

It’s a very big issue. I find that it halts [the progress of] a lot of musicians who would like to be entrepreneurial, but don’t have access to some starting capital or initial funding to get going. That’s really a shame. I meet a lot of musicians with great ideas for projects that go beyond a single concert or tour. But the lack of funding in the space for musicians to set up bigger projects really restricts them. Luckily there are some great foundations that do offer support, like The Supporting Act Foundation and Amarte.

How do you address such environmental and social justice issues through your work, productions, and performances?

In every project that we develop we integrate an impact element. For example, as mentioned, we are rethinking ownership structures by placing the musicians back at the center of the project. But more explicitly, impactwise, we are building “Positive Notes” which is a library of impact music projects which are hugely varied, but all show how music can be a driver for positive change.

For example, we helped make a vinyl for the soundtrack of the Ukrainian documentary “2000 Meters to Andriivka” and raised funding for the families of the soldiers featured in the film. Next to that, we’re partnering with Sounds Right who made NATURE an official artist, meaning that now, when artists partner with NATURE on their tracks by incorporating nature sounds, half of royalty streams flow to nature conservation projects. We also worked with Ghanean trumpeter Peter Somuah on organizing a number of workshops in Ghana to help encourage local youth to play music and break stereotypes that halt them. Peter observed that in Ghana, music is part of everyday life, yet many young players still carry limiting beliefs shaped by the country’s colonial past – ideas that they can play, but can’t truly excel. Peter’s mission through these workshops was to help break those stereotypes and show young Ghanaian artists that excellence isn’t defined by race or origin, but by dedication, practice, and passion.

Completely different types of projects, but all examples of how music can be a force for good.

How do you hope that this grant might help Cue to flourish?

We really appreciate the unrestricted character of this grant as we can use it not only for project expenses but also for overheads. For a young non-profit, overhead costs – costs to hire a designer, an accountant or notary – are really difficult to cover as most of the funding you receive needs to be dedicated to specific projects. This grant therefore is super special as it allows sustainable growth and professionalization of our non profit.

You can follow us at @cue_org on Instagram!