Our mission
“A Guide to the Birdsong” uses the power of music, community and creativity to help save birds on the edge of extinction. We invite diverse musicians from around the world to use their talent and reach to help raise awareness about environmental destruction and the need to save iconic and emblematic birds.
Our Vision
We truly believe in the power of music to change the world. We envision an empowered, decentralised, independent global community of music lovers, bird enthusiasts and environmentalists coming together to drive impactful change to save at-risk habitats and species.
Our story
A Guide to the Birdsong was born in 2014, founded by producer and environmentalist Robin Perkins who was seeking to unite his two passions: music and environmental activism. The project began with a simple idea: using birdsong as a source of musical inspiration. Building on this, A Guide to the Birdsong was born: a project that challenges a group of musicians from one region of the world to create an original piece of music using and inspired by the song of an endangered bird from their country.
The series began with “A Guide to the Birdsong of South America”, kickstarted by a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign reaching 150% of its initial target. This first album was released in 2015 to critical acclaim, gathering media coverage from Billboard, Vice, Trax, El Espectador, the BBC and more. The first album resulted in an initial donation of $13,000 USD to two conservation organisations, La Fundacion Jocotoco in Ecuador and Aves Argentina.
Following on from this huge success, four years later Shika Shika released the second volume: A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean. The project stuck to this winning formula, this time smashing its crowdfunding target by over 400%. The album was once again released to a rapturous reception garnering coverage from NPR Morning Edition, BBC Radio 4, The Guardian, Reforma and National Geographic. Sales from this second volume allowed Shika Shika to donate $24,000 USD to three organisations in the region as well as another.
In 2021 we decided to cross the Atlantic and embarked on Volume III: A Guide to the Birdsong of Western Africa with a crowdfunding one more exceeding all our expectations and the album launched in June 2022, perhaps the most diverse and ambitious album yet.
To date, “A Guide to the Birdsong” has raised over $80,000 for targeted conservation work.
CONTACT US OR GET INVOLVED
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You can contact us at robin@shikashika.org or via shikashikacollective@gmail.com
ABOUT Shika Shika
Shika Shika seeks to create an inclusive, global movement that empowers artists, celebrates cultural migrations and embraces the power of music and art to drive change. Electronic music producers Agustín Rivaldo (Barrio Lindo) and Robin Perkins (El Buho) founded Shika Shika in 2015 as a platform to help emerging artists release their music. It began with the conviction that a label is meant to serve the artists and not the other way around, and to this day remains one of the few independent labels to give over two thirds of profits directly to the artists.
Since then, the label has released music from over 60 artists from 30 countries, including 36 digital and 10 vinyl releases. Its iconic non-profit projects, such as the A Guide to the Birdsong series and the multi-label compilation Mamazonia: Odes to the Forest have gained worldwide recognition as innovative examples of musical activism.
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