Tone Madison presents: 10

Our new fundraising compilation celebrates 10 years of Madison area music.

A decade is quite a bit of time, and—for a news-publishing industry beset by never-ending setbacks—a weirdly miraculous mark of survival. In the spirit of the occasion, it’s hard not to look back and take stock of what’s happened over that time. Music has been one of Tone Madison‘s defining coverage areas since it launched in 2014, and a lot of truly incredible music from Madison musicians has come out between then and now.

We’re highlighting a portion of that music with the aptly-named 10, a new fundraiser compilation that includes music recorded and/or released by Madison-area artists during Tone Madison‘s run. A few of the tracks on the compilation have been unreleased up to this point.

Madison’s music community is often overlooked, though the reasons for that oversight are never connected to the quality of the music. It’s a stop that is frequently skipped on tour runs due to a variety of logistical complications. Artists who start their careers here but go on to find broader success rarely stay within the city limits (though that tide is starting to shift). But the music coming out of Madison is constantly teeming with real purpose and identity, making an indelible impact on local audiences, and carving out a rightful place in Wisconsin’s rich music history. That truth has held constant for decades past, and seems set to carry on for decades to come.

We here at Tone Madison wanted to acknowledge and celebrate that impact, while also taking the lens of our own coverage into account. Tone Madison reached out to a number of artists we’ve featured in our coverage in some way, shape, or form, over our 10-year run to contribute a track to 10.

This compilation is, by no means, a comprehensive run-down of artists we’ve featured over our time as a publication. Nor is it meant to be overly emblematic of the output that Madison area artists have generated over that decade-long stretch. To get an even more complete sense of what’s caught our interest over the years, we’d like to encourage readers to spend some time walking down the halls of our history by revisiting our favorite records lists from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. We’ll be running our lists of local music favorites from 2024 in January.

Until then, you can reflect on what has helped make Madison’s music community so exciting for those in the know by picking up a copy of 10. Given that today is also Bandcamp Friday, it’s worth noting that the streaming platform will once again be waiving its usual cut of purchases. And thanks (again) to the NewsMatch initiative, all proceeds generated from this compilation will also multiply in value. We’ll put that money right back into fueling our essential coverage of culture and politics in Madison.

If you still haven’t added our first two compilations to your collection, we will be running a 20% bundle discount for listeners who purchase all three together (Contributors, To Grow A Garden, and 10).

For Bandcamp Friday only, 10 will be available for $15. Beyond that date, the price will be $20.

Happy listening, and we hope to see you all tonight at Gamma Ray Bar!