Weekly survey: A label dropped an artist for attending last week’s Pro-Trump DC rally. Justified or not?
Ariel Pink has been an indie darling going on 25 years now, famous in some circles for the lo-fi albums he records mostly at home. If you’re into certain indie genres–chillwave and hypnagogic pop–you know all about this guy.
Last Wednesday, he was spotted in Washington DC at the pro-Trump rally that descended into a riot as part of the crowd stormed the US Capitol building. As we know, there was death (at least five people are known dead) and destruction (the actual extent of which continues to be reported). The event has America torn apart by the riot on political, social, and racial grounds. The stories about people chanting “Hang Mike Pence” are chilling.
Pink was photographed at the rally. He later tweeted “i was in dc to peacefully show my support for the president… i attended the rally on the white house lawn and went back to hotel and took a nap. case closed.”
That wasn’t good enough for his record label, Mexican Summer:
So Ariel Pink no longer has a record deal. Was the label’s decision right or wrong? I’ll phrase that as a Twitter poll, but if you have comments on the matter, leave them below.
A record label dropped one of its artists for attending last week's pro-Trump rally in DC. Was it the right move? Or the wrong one? (Read background here before you answer.)
— Alan Cross (@alancross) January 10, 2021
Republicans were the ones who allowed private companies to not make cakes for gay people, so if a label decides to drop someone from their label, they can go right ahead. ‘Let the market sort things out’, etc.
I know this is old @#$% now, but “freedom of speech” is not the same as “freedom from consequence”, and if the Republicans hold the marketplace in such high regards, then it will decide, and if the label decides to gas him, he made his choice…