A number of acts have begun to pull their music from Amazon Music in protest against the company’s links with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Amongst the acts to make the move are Deerhoof, Speedy Ortiz, Downtown Boys, La Neve and Adult Mom as part of a campaign dubbed ‘No Music For ICE’. The group behind the protest has shared a guide to musicians on how to get involved and pull their own music from the service.
"We’re calling on musicians & labels who oppose ICE’s human rights abuses to join us during the holiday season," a statement by the protest’s organisers reads. "Mass takedowns will begin on Black Friday and continue throughout Amazon’s all-important holiday shopping season."
The decision to remove music from Amazon Music is the latest escalation from the campaign which last month shared an open letter urging various people in the music industry to boycott festivals and events sponsored by Amazon. More than 1,000 musicians – including The Black Madonna, Car Seat Headrest, Zola Jesus, Deerhoof, Girlpool, Guy Picciotto of Fugazi and Of Montreal – have signed the letter so far. You can read the full list of signatories here.
ICE is accused of numerous human rights abuses in the US, while Amazon Web Services’ ongoing use of facial recognition has raised further questions around human rights abuses including racial profiling and discrimination.
The action against Amazon was kickstarted when the company launched a new music festival called Intersect featuring the likes of Foo Fighters, Beck, SOPHIE and Jamie xx. The Black Madonna and JPEGMAFIA have both cancelled their appearances at the festival since it was announced, with the former claiming that Amazon’s involvement in the event was not made clear in any contracts.
