Values

Why Build a Sound System in Detroit?

As musicians and artists in Detroit, we know that Detroit has an abundance of groundbreaking, boundary pushing music and musicians. At the same time, we see that Detroit has a lack of access to good sound systems for its genre-defining music ecosystem. We wanted to create a necessary resource in order for artists to play our music and make high-fidelity listening spaces in a privatized, class-divided world.

We want to provide an option for practitioners who are shaping Detroit’s arts and culture to benefit from access to high-quality sound resources that can elevate their autonomous events. Our sound system prioritizes non-commercial events, neighborhood gatherings, and programming that is at risk of going away due to local arts disinvestment.

By embedding design justice, collective ownership, and anti-extractive cultural production methods into the foundational design of the AFSS, we seek to resist top-down and profit-driven models of arts infrastructure, remaining firmly committed to abolitionist and restorative design practices.The AFSS is a platform for imagining new ways of listening, gathering, and building community at a critical time of cultural crisis.

Values

Who is AFSS for?

AFSS is explicitly committed to centering marginalized communities in Detroit. Specifically, We prioritize Black and Queer communities who have been historically been excluded, exploited, and harmed by mainstream and commercial arts industries. These communities will always be prioritized for access and participation across all aspects of the project, including workshops, build days, public events, and use of the sound system. In general, AFSS is for anyone who is committed to centering local music and artistic expression.

● Community Rate

Community Rate

The AFSS uses a sliding scale to make our project equitable. Non-profits and Businesses pay more, so grassroots organizations, affinity groups, and collectives pay less.

In order to make AFSS accessible to our centered communities, we offer a sliding scale community rate for groups and individuals that are hosting events for Black and/or Queer community members. This is a bare-bones rate that pays for transport and staffing. We retain the right to access or deny requests for the community rate.

Community Rate requests will become available for Detroit-based creatives when we open our booking form in Winter 2027.

  • We prioritize individuals, groups, and grassroots initiatives who would not traditionally be able to afford a high-fidelity sound system. We accept community rate inquires from Non-White and/or LGBTQIA+ Detroiters with a notable degree of engagement within the local community.

  • You can apply for a community rate through our contact form and clicking the relevant box. Note that Angel Food Sound System is not accepting Community Rate requests until we open our booking form in Winter 2027.

  • We ask that you give us at least a month’s notice to request a community rate for your idea, as we need to make sure that we have enough staff to fufill your request.

  • We will do our best to reply to and make decisions about subsidized rates within one week of your application.