In the United States, leading record labels mark "Black Out Tuesday" -- suspending business and working with communities to fight racial inequality.  "We stand with the Black community," Universal Music, part of Vivendi, said on its Twitter account, which featured the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused.

Several major record labels including Atlantic, Warner, Columbia, Sony, and Interscope Geffen A&M, part of the Universal stable,have expressed their support for the ongoing demonstrations across the country to protest discrimination, police brutality and injustice.

"The music business at WMG will not go on as usual," Warner Records wrote on its account, referring to Warner Music Group.  It said it would contribute to Black Lives Matter and other groups fighting "racial injustice."

Sony Music made a similar announcement, while Interscope Geffen said it would release no new music this week.  

Last Friday, just days after George Floyd was suffocated by a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest, numerous music companies and artists began spreading a message on social media calling for “a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community" and “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.

They explained that Tuesday's effort was meant to intentionally disrupt the work week.

"The music industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry --an industry that has profited predominantly from Black art. "Our mission is to hold the industry at large, including major corporations and their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and successes of Black people accountable," they said.

"This is not just a 24-hour initiative. We are and will be in this fight for the long haul," they stressed.