The Massive Attack, the historic Bristol band, announced the decision to remove their musical catalog from Spotify and to join the No Music for Genocide campaign, aimed at geo-blocked music in Israel. The choice was born from ethical and political motivations, linked both to the practices of the streaming platform and to the need to support the cultural boycott against human rights violations in the Gaza and West Bank region.
In a press release published on Instagram, the Massive Attack explain:
In light of the significant investments of the SPOTIFY CEO in a company that produces military drones and technologies to integrated in combat aircraft, we asked our label the removal of our music from Spotify in all territories.
The band recalls the comparison with the cultural boycott against the South African apartheid and other contemporary initiatives such as the collective film Worldrs for Palestine, made up of over 4,500 film professionals. The Massive Attack underline how music can transform sadness, anger and creativity into a coherent and necessary action, rejecting the normalization of policies and companies involved in crimes against humanity.
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The controversy with Helsing and the No Music for Genocide campaign
The band’s gesture follows that of over 400 artists, including Faye Webster, Arca, Rina Sawayama, Fontaines DC, Aminé, Kelela, Japanese Breakfast, Mike, King Krule, Amyl and the Sniffers, Mj Lendeman, Mø, Erika De Casier, Mannequin Pussy, Liv.e, Wednesday, and Aja Monet.
Singers and musicians have chosen to abandon the platform after the revelations on the investments of CEO Daniel Ek in the German company Helsing, specialized in military and Ai technologies. The musicians underline how the proceeds generated by users end indirectly to finance war tools.
The campaign No Music for Genocide He has already collected the adhesion of over 400 artists, including Arca, Rina Sawayama, Fontaines DC, Faye Webster and many others. The initiative asks musicians and holders of the rights to remove their works from the platforms in Israel to counter genocide, ethnic cleaning and political repression.
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