More than 400 artists and labels have launched a cultural boycott of Israel
The issues regarding Israel are insanely polarizing. On the Palestinian/Gaza side, there’s the new No Music for Genocide, which is described as “response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza; ethnic cleansing of the Occupied West Bank; apartheid within Israel / ’48; political repression of Pro-Palestine efforts wherever we live; and the music industry’s own ties to weapons and crimes against humanity.”
Arists include Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Rina Sawayama, Amyl and The Sniffers, Enter Shikari and Young Fathers.
The campaign has two historical templates: The cultural boycott of South Africa when apartheid was raging and the international music community’s shunning of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Massive Attack made their own announcement in which they pulled their music from Spotify.
“Unconnected to this initiative & in light of the [reported] significant investments by its CEO in a company producing military munition drones & AI technology integrated into fighter aircraft, Massive Attack have made a separate request to our label that our music be removed from the Spotify streaming service in all territories,” explained the band.
“In the separate case of Spotify, the economic burden that has long been placed on artists is now compounded by a moral & ethical burden, whereby the hard-earned money of fans & the creative endeavours of musicians ultimately funds lethal, dystopian technologies.”
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Helsing responded:
“Currently we see misinformation spreading that Helsing’s technology is deployed in war zones other than Ukraine. This is not correct. Our technology is deployed to European countries for deterrence and for defence against the Russian aggression in Ukraine only.”
A Spotify spokeman said this:
“I want to clarify a few things. Spotify and Helsing are two totally separate companies. And while I can’t speak for Helsing, I’m well aware they’re not involved in Gaza. I know because I had the same questions myself, and asked. Helsing’s efforts are focused on Europe defending itself in Ukraine. If you want to talk about Spotify and royalty payouts, happy to have a conversation. Thank you for hearing me out.”
Massive Attack joins a growing number of artists who have bailed on Spotify for ethical, moral, and political reasons.
