More than 1000 musicians have pledged not to participate in Amazon-sponsored events, including the inaugural Intersect Festival in Las Vegas on December 6-7, or involve in any exclusive partnerships with the company because of its ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other US government agencies.
A group of artists, such as Speedy Otiz’s Sadie Dupuis, Downtown Boys’ Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, Evan Greer, Adult Mom, @k8_or_die, Carmen Perry and Jes Skolnik signed an open letter promising to the boycott campaign, Brooklynvegan reports.
The open letter requested to withdraw artists’ music during this Black Friday and the holiday season, while provided guidelines, such as “write to your label or distributor directly” and “issue a takedown request to Amazon” to support the action. “Organizers with distribution from ADA and Redeye, like Get Better Records, Speedy Ortiz, Downtown Boys, and Evan Greer” can help musicians to remove their music “so quickly and painlessly.”
The new letter announced by No Music For ICE called on musicians to “remove your music from Amazon” and focus on “next step.” “A mass, collective takedown is an escalation, another step in musicians acting in solidarity with the numerous groups across the country protesting to shut down ICE and end family separations, deportations, and other horrors,” it reads.
The letter also uses data to address that “Amazon is aggressively trying to compete in the music sales and streaming markets, with mixed results.” A recent sharing from “an industry insider” indicates, “Amazon Streaming accounted for only around 4% of first week streams. Amazon MP3 digital sales equated to 3% total of album sales, excluding ticket/album bundle sales.” Therefore, “pulling down your music kicks Amazon where it already hurts” is urgent, “and it’s easy to do.”
You can find more details about the #NoMusicForICE pledge HERE.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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