No Music For Genocide: Fontaines D.C., Amyl & The Sniffers and 400+ Artists Back Spotify Streaming Boycott
No Music For Genocide: Fontaines D.C., Amyl & The Sniffers and 400+ Artists Back Spotify Streaming Boycott
Words: Rachel Hannon
Over 400 artists including Fontaines D.C., Amyl & The Sniffers, Primal Scream, Japanese Breakfast and more have signed onto the No Music For Genocide campaign. The initiative urges artists to pull their music from streaming platforms in Israel in protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Massive Attack, who have been involved from the outset, have gone a step further, committing to a full boycott of Spotify.
The campaign is a cultural boycott designed to refuse what organisers call “art-washing”, the use of music and culture to normalise governments or corporations accused of crimes against humanity. They point to past examples: Sony, Warner, and UMG all restricted their catalogues in Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. Artists are now calling for similar action against Israel, highlighting culture’s role in rejecting political repression and shifting public opinion towards justice.
Speaking on this, No Music For Genocide said: “This tangible act is just one step toward honoring Palestinian demands to isolate and delegitimize Israel as it kills without consequence on the world stage. The successful cultural boycotts against apartheid South Africa prove that our creative work grants us agency and power.
Within a few months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, every major label either unilaterally removed their entire catalogue from Russia or closed operations entirely, implicitly or explicitly condemning Putin’s actions while donating to Ukraine. No such measures have been taken against Israel, or in support of Palestine, after decades of illegal occupation and 23 months into Israel’s accelerated genocide.”
Artists involved have already edited release territories or requested geo-blocks through distributors, with the hope that majors will follow. The coalition sees this as just the first step in a larger global movement.
“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.”
“When we wield it together, we add unified pressure to a growing, global, interdependent movement, from Hollywood to the docks of Morocco. This initiative is borderless and open to all artists and labels who want to boycott. We hope it leads to additional efforts against the music industry’s complicity.”
Their message is clear: culture alone won’t stop bombs, but it can chip away at the systems that allow violence to continue.
