Four Steps to Give Ukrainian Musicians a #LilBoost #Music4Ukraine
I recently made a post called “Listen for a Cause” where I encouraged readers to do a little research into the Ukrainian music scene which has been interrupted by the Russian invasion. Prior to that, it was disrupted by Covid like the rest of the world.
As the war drags on, those of us who want to support our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine may be looking for new and creative ways to do so. I’ve been encouraging people to go YouTube, Spotify, Bandcamp, and other streaming services to give Ukrainian artists a boost. Perhaps this will help provide them with steady income while it is difficult to book gigs.
If you want to help here are some simple and fun steps, you can take right now to help.
Listen to music from Ukraine -Seek out Ukrainian artists on Spotify, YouTube, or the streaming service of your choice. If you are unfamiliar with Ukrainian music, you might not know where to start. Below is a playlist of artists I’ve been listening to start there and when you hear something you like please listen to more songs by that artist. I’ve also been publishing a series called Hasty Music Reviews. Each post gives a brief description of a Ukrainian song and I compare it to Western artists. If you like the artist I mention, then there’s a good chance you may enjoy the artist featured in the post.
Reflect on the music – You can listen passively if you want, but ultimately, you’re going to want to convince others to check out the great tunes you found. That will be easier if you know exactly why you liked it. How did the song make you feel? How is it like music you enjoy? Do you have any friends or family that you think would enjoy it too?
Spread the Word – Streaming services pay fractions of a penny per stream, so to have any significant effect we need to get lots of people listening. Be a social media influencer and spread the word about the great music you find. Reach out the influencers you follow and ask them to post about their favorite Ukrainian artists too.
There are many great ways you can do this.
1. Write posts on social media about the great bands you find.
2. Share playlists of your favorite songs.
3. Create your own original content like blogs, music reviews, reaction videos, lyric videos, or cover versions.
4. Create a hashtag and follow hashtags created by others like #Music4Ukraine.
5. Reach out to friends and encourage them to do the same in real life and online.
6. Ask social media influencers to join the cause.
Purchase Merch – I know times are tough for many folks around the world. Many people trimming back their discretionary spending around the globe, but you can always consider spending money on albums, shirts, posters, or other merchandise if you are able and willing to do so.
Concluding Thoughts
I sincerely hope you’ll join me supporting the people of Ukraine. I hope you’ll reach back to me and recommend your favorite songs to me so I can check them out, and I’ll continue to do the same for you.
We don’t have to limit ourselves to just supporting Ukrainian musicians. In this particular case we’re using music to support musicians, so it’s easy and natural. However, I’m sure with a little creativity you can adapt this model to support any social cause. I hope you’ll take the idea and run with it and let music inspire you to make the world a better place.
Plan M: Finding Joy in Music Blog 
2 thoughts on “Hobby #6: A Call to Action”