Over 400 musicians and record labels, like MJ Lenderman, King Krule, Arca, Massive Attack, MIKE, and Yaeji, are now supporting a campaign to stop their songs from being streamed in Israel.
The group called No Music for Genocide is encouraging even more artists and companies to take part in a cultural boycott, pushing back against “Israel’s genocide in Gaza; ethnic cleansing of the Occupied West Bank; apartheid within Israel,” and also against how pro-Palestine supporters are treated, plus how the music business is sometimes connected to military stuff. Massive Attack, in a separate note, said they’re pulling all their tracks off Spotify everywhere.
Loads of other musicians have joined up too, like Fontaines D.C., Oklou, Wednesday, Kelela, Faye Webster, Japanese Breakfast, Rina Sawayama, Aminé, Erika de Casier, Kneecap, Primal Scream, Eartheater, Aja Monet, Maryam Saleh, Ana Tijoux, Annahstasia, Amyl and the Sniffers, Nadah El Shazly, Ben Howard, Fat Tony, Mannequin Pussy, Liv.e, Mø, Mechatok, Redveil, Horsegiirl, Chanel Beads, Nick León, Escho, Saul Williams, and Verraco. Labels like Bayonet, 10k, and Pan are also in.
Fans think it’s interesting how music can be such a big part of protest.
Back when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the massive labels blocked their music from streaming in Russia pretty quickly, and even closed offices and quit working there, plus Spotify left Russia. But, weirdly, Russian fans could still listen to music from those labels on other services like Apple Music for a while, until Sony finally took all its music off every streaming platform in Russia by the end of that year.
“Culture can’t stop bombs on its own, but it can help reject political repression, shift public opinion toward justice, and refuse the art-washing and normalization of any company or nation that commits crimes against humanity. This initiative is one part of a worldwide movement to erode the support Israel needs to continue its genocide. We’re inspired by the escalating efforts in pursuit of that goal, from the recent Film Workers for Palestine pledge to Spain’s ban of Israel-bound ships and planes to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard to dockworkers in Morocco who’ve refused to load weapons onto vessels ordered by Tel Aviv.”
Sometimes, when you read these statements, it feels like music is way more than just sound—it’s a kind of protest, a voice that travels farther than words.
