Nearly 500 musicians and labels have geo-blocked their music from Spotify, including a number of Canadians.
The campaign, called No Music for Genocide, describes itself as a “new cultural boycott initiative asking artists and rights-holders to remove their music from streaming platforms in Israel in response to its genocide in Gaza; ethnic cleansing of the Occupied West Bank; apartheid within Israel; and political repression of Pro-Palestine efforts wherever we live.”
It launched on Sept. 18 through an Instagram post that detailed how to request on Spotify that music be limited from a certain territory.
Elisapie, BadBadNotGood, Ouri and Jonathan Personne are among the Canadian musicians who originally joined, as well as Montreal labels Constellation Records and Arbutus Records.
Two weeks later, the list counts nearly 500 musicians and labels, with electronic musician Caribou recently adding his name.
“In response to Israel’s ongoing heartbreaking genocide in Gaza and the broader occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people, I am joining the many other artists who have committed to @nomusicforgenocide and removing my music from streaming services in Israel as part of the broader cultural boycott,” Caribou posted on Instagram on Sept. 30.
Other artists joining the boycott, according to the No Music for Genocide website, include Björk, Fontaines D.C., Japanese Breakfast, Aminé, Paramore and Kneecap, the Irish hip-hop trio who was recently banned from performing in Canada due to what the federal government said was the group’s “open endorsement of terrorist organizations.”
The group has denied the allegation, posting on X that Kneecap will be “relentless in defending ourselves against baseless accusations to silence our opposition to a genocide being committed by Israel.”
“This tangible act is just one step toward honouring Palestinian demands to isolate and delegitimize Israel as it kills without consequence on the world stage,” reads No Music for Genocide’s website. “The successful cultural boycotts against apartheid South Africa prove that our creative work grants us agency and power.”
In addition to this campaign to remove music from Spotify in Israel, artists have also been removing their music from the streaming giant after it was announced in June that CEO Daniel Ek would invest nearly $700 million US into military AI company Helsing. (Spotify announced on Sept. 30 that Ek would transition to executive chair in January 2026, while Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström will take on co-CEO roles.)
“While no solution is perfect, we simply can’t continue to put our life’s work in a store that, in addition to all its other glaring flaws, directly funds war machines,” American electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso shared on Sept. 30 after dropping their new single, WDID. “Reaching towards the world we all deserve, even though we are not in it yet.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cbc.ca ’
