(JTA) — JDub, the innovative Jewish music and events promoter best known for launching the career of Chasidic reggae singer Matisyahu, is closing.
The decision was “entirely financial,” according to a statement released Tuesday by the 9-year-old nonprofit based in New York.
“The collapse of the music business in the decade that JDub has existed, combined with recessionary effects and aging out of the cohort of Jewish ‘start-ups,’ made securing the necessary operating support an insurmountable challenge,” the statement read.
In addition to launching Matisyahu into stardom and the Balkan Beat Box, a Jewish fusion group popular on the club circuit, JDub branched out beyond the music world in 2005, beginning with co-founding the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists. In 2009, JDub adopted jewcy.com, a youth-oriented Jewish website, and has consulted for nearly three dozen other Jewish organizations including Hillel International and Birthright Israel Next.
JDub, which has sold 1.6 million records, said it will wind down its operations slowly and try to find homes for its programs and assets.
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