Music News

Neo Nazi Rock Bands? They’ve Been Around Forever

Spotify and other streaming services have been combing through their systems to expunge them of hate-filled music from Nazi and white supremacist bands. (There’s an interesting controversy about this, too.) But there’s far more to far-right music than indie acts posting their stuff online. There’s a network of labels and stores that feed these trolls. The Washington Post reports.

In addition to Spotify’s actions, Steven Wiegand of New Jersey who ran white supremacist music store Micetrap Distribution for more than two decades announced he was shutting it down, after finding himself unable to pretend he wasn’t peddling hate, Philly.com reported.

And Minneapolis lawyer Aaron Davis lost his job after his hobby operating a neo-Nazi music label came to light.

Until then, most people probably didn’t know such entertainment — if that’s what it can be called — existed. Nobody knows the exact number of neo-Nazi/white nationalist bands here and abroad.

At least 37 of them streamed on Spotify until recently.

In fact, the genre has been around for decades, relegated for years to certain sympathetic rock clubs and underground mailing lists until the Internet changed all that.

The origins of white supremacist and neo-Nazi music can most easily be traced to the rise of punk music in 1970s Britain.

It’s important that you read the rest. For more info on 70s British punk and this music, go here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39154 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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