(CelebrityAccess) — Beverage maker and lifestyle company Red Bull announced that after 21 years, they were pulling the plug on the Red Bull Music Academy.
Red Bull said that RBMA and Red Bull Radio would close on October 31st announced a mutual split with Yadastar, the marketing and consultancy partners contracted with Red Bull to develop RBMA events.
In a statement to Resident Advisor, a rep for Red Bull said: “After 20 years of supporting artists worldwide with its music program in a rapidly changing world, Red Bull will maintain its purpose of providing a global platform to promote creativity — but it is changing the means of delivery. Red Bull will be moving away from a strongly centralized approach, will gradually phase out the existing structure and will implement a new setup which empowers existing Red Bull country teams and utilizes local expertise. Red Bull will continue to explore new ways to support promising and cutting-edge artists wherever they may be.”
Since its inception, RBMA has played a major role in providing a marquee platform for underground artists to gain wider recognition. The platform helped to launch the careers of artists such as Flying Lotus, Objekt, and Sophie, and staged annual music festivals in international destination cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, and Berlin.
RBMA also generated and hosted editorial content, including a long-running lecture series featuring artists and creators such as Brian Eno, Erykah Badu, DOOM, Bjork, and Questlove.
Yadastar confirmed the decision to part ways with Red Bull, describing the split as “mutual” and thanking Red Bull for the fun times.
“We have had the privilege to work with some of the brightest and most talented people in the world. So we wanted to use this opportunity to thank all of the people who have made this journey possible,” spokespersons for Yadastar said.
