After TWELVE incredible weeks of raising tens of thousands of dollars for the wonderful efforts of Support Act, the time has come for us to start directly supporting the artists themselves. So as of today, 100% of donations to the website will be distributed equally among the Isol-Aid artists performing that weekend (and their teams) and this weekend also to paytherent.net.au
Until now, the festival has been almost completely volunteer-run, but without financial assistance we will no longer be able to continue. So from now on, proceeds from merch sales will go directly to pay for website, tech staff, digital marketing, programming and design. You can look good and feel amazing. Artist donations, merch and feel good vibes from isolaidfestival.com.
Isol-Aid is an online music festival and gathering space, where every weekend artists play 20-minute sets streamed live via Twitch. At the end of their set, each musician tag-teams the next artist to play, sending fans down a rabbit hole of new music discovery, community, and good feels.
The festival was created in the days after the coronavirus pandemic reached Australia, when it became immediately clear that musicians would be heavily impacted by the cancellation of their shows and tours. At that time, it also became clear that the music community would have to disperse and could no longer meet up at small or large venues, record stores or festivals, to participate, support, buy merch, sing and dance to their favourite artists.
Isol-Aid helps musicians – who would otherwise have had shows, launches, tours, and other appearances planned for this period – to stream live and online to an audience of their already devoted fans, as well as new fans who are there waiting to discover and connect. As the name of the festival suggests, Isol-Aid encourages people to stay home and physically isolate during this tough time, while also providing them with community and incredible cultural nourishment, and a whole lot of other fans to commune with in the comments section of the feed.
Isol-Aid puts musicians first by supporting artists who aren't able to play in front of live audiences at the moment, but we care about the music community as a whole. Which is why we are asking online festival attendees to please donate whatever they can to Support Act, Australia's only not-for-profit organisation to provide relief for musicians and music industry workers facing physical or mental health issues, or financial hardship.
Isol-Aid is for a community whose livelihood and sense of belonging usually happens through togetherness and live events. We are facilitating that, but in a new way. And we're calling on all music lovers to stream, listen, buy, and donate whatever is within their means.
So grab your device, charger, snacks and water bottle, and we'll see you at the festival this weekend. xx