The Save The Music Foundation is proudly partnering with Billboard to expand funding of its grants for Latin music programs. This announcement was made ahead of 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week.
Save The Music team members will be attending Latin Music Week on October 14-18 to spread awareness about their program, along with 24 of their participating students, educators and local partners via Young Musicians Unite. Additionally, the organization is auctioning off fan experiences in conjunction with CharityBuzz for the week-long takeover to raise funding. The auction, which went live on Monday, September 23, includes prizes like industry credentials to the event, signed merchandise and M&G experiences with Grupo Frontera, Saiko, Omar Courtz and Dei V.
If that wasn’t enough, Billboard will also host a fundraiser via Instagram to help support Save The Music’s mission of creating culturally rich music programs for public schools through their Miami Music Saves project.
“Billboard is proud to support the next generation of musicians and music lovers through its ongoing partnership with Save The Music,” Sara Katzki, Head of Billboard’s Brand Studio, said in a statement. “Our shared goal is to provide students with unforgettable experiences, and spotlight unique music career pathways both on and off the stage. Save The Music does incredible work bringing music education into schools across the country, and we’re thrilled to amplify the Miami Music Saves project at Latin Music Week.”
For over 25 years, the Save The Music Foundation has worked diligently with local community partners, school districts, funders, and artists to create sustainable music education programs that align with a community’s specific needs. The organization has worked to address the systemic inequities within public education by investing in culturally rich communities to ensure that students have access to quality music education.
While Billboard showcases Latin American artists and cultural icons, Save The Music funds programs to inspire artists of the future. Together, these institutions have been creating engaging programs for future musicians across the United States.
In fact, since partnering with Miami Dade Public Schools in 2017, Save The Music has been able to serve over 32,000 students by delivering over 8,700 instruments to public schools along with updated technology and new music programs. Because of its rich music history, Miami has been a priority for the organization in its efforts to rebuild and jumpstart new music programs for students K-12. This provides them opportunities to learn firsthand about south Florida’s musical legacy, as well as pave their own way as future artists.
With Save The Music, a K-8 school in the Miami area is teaming up with The Mexican American Council to develop a brand new mariachi program for their students. In the last few years, mariachi grants and programs have been provided to schools in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Oklahoma. As more schools receive funding for engaging and culturally relevant programming, Save The Music is expanding beyond mariachi programming to include other Latin music programs.