Red Bull Music Academy and Red Bull Radio will shut down this fall, ending a 21-year run of influential concerts, lectures and workshops. The energy drink company announced Wednesday that both entities will close on October 31st.
“After 20 years of supporting artists worldwide with its music program in a rapidly changing world, Red Bull will maintain its purpose of providing a global platform to promote creativity — but it is changing the means of delivery,” Red Bull told Resident Advisor in a statement. “Red Bull will be moving away from a strongly centralized approach, will gradually phase out the existing structure and will implement a new setup which empowers existing Red Bull country teams and utilizes local expertise. Red Bull will continue to explore new ways to support promising and cutting-edge artists wherever they may be.”
Both Red Bull Music Academy and Red Bull Radio were developed in partnership with the marketing and consultancy company Yadastar, who managed the creative and curatorial elements of both. Red Bull Music will remain active in specific territories — including a festival (separate from the academy) planned for New York and Tokyo this spring.
Yadastar’s Many Ameri, Christopher Romberg and Torsten Schmidt helped launch the Academy in Berlin, Germany in 1998. Over the next two decades, the program included annual events in cities like London, Melbourne, Madrid, Paris and Dublin, hosting live performances, art installations and lectures from artists like Brian Eno, Erykah Badu, DOOM, Q-Tip and Questlove.
RBMA, which hosted a music publication at its website, also offered budding musicians, producers and DJs the chance to record in professional studios and collaborate with established industry figures. Alumni of the program include Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke and Nina Kraviz.
Yadastar confirmed via Twitter that they’ve “agreed to part ways” with Red Bull at the end of October. “We met more fascinating minds and characters than we could have ever imagined,” Ameri and Schmidt wrote in a joint statement. “For that we are grateful. Now we are very much looking forward to seeing you and people like you again. The world is full of great ideas. This was one.”