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Donating with Donuts
It’s news like this that makes us forget how ugly the Canadian music industry is: Koch Entertainment, a distributer of at least 15 Canadian labels, will donate $1 of every new Donuts CD sold in Canada to his mother for healthcare costs. Jay Dee, whom most of you know as J Dilla, died last week of cardiac arrest. Leading up to his death, Jay Dee had been suffering from lupus and was receiving heavy – and extremely costly – medical attention in the US. Dilla was in Slum Village and produced Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde and more. He was most recently in Toronto in the summer, playing at the Harbourfront Centre.
We see this type of music biz healthcare fundraising has becoming something of an inevitability for American musicians, many of whom don’t buy health insurance but subscribe to a life of touring and, most times, a less stable income. One notable instance was Alejandro Escovedo, an Americana artist diagnosed with Hep C. His friends, some connected with Chicago’s Bloodshot Records, put together a tribute album to cover his health bills.