Boycotting isn’t as effective as it used to be, especially when it comes to large brands. Here’s how to make a real difference when it’s clear that staying off Spotify won’t be enough.
by Sommer Wagen
In early 2022, 270 medical professionals signed an open letter condemning Spotify for featuring “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, through which host Joe Rogan repeatedly platformed guests that spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Several artists, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, pulled their music off the streaming platform in protest. This kickstarted the #spotifydeleted trend on social media, with widespread calls for users to boycott the streaming service.
But in the end, #spotifydeleted petered out and Spotify’s bottom line barely budged. In fact, the most you’ll hear about Spotify these days is their viral marketing campaign “Wrapped” at the end of the year, not their social irresponsibility. “The Joe Rogan Experience” is still a Spotify-exclusive podcast and the platform still hosts a flagrantly transphobic viral song by a Christian rapper.
Socially conscious listeners like Erin Mullen found themselves in the middle of a boycott dilemma of sorts. In 2022, Mullen switched from Spotify to other music streaming platforms, motivated by the calls for a boycott and the fact that Napster and Apple Music compensate their artists a lot better than Spotify.
“I [didn’t] want to support Spotify if they’re not going to be socially responsible,” they said. “And I still don’t think they are.”
Yet Mullen ultimately switched back to Spotify for its user experience, social features and generated playlists. They also questioned how much they could do in the face of Spotify’s corporate structure.
Boycotts have a storied history of effectiveness, from the Montgomery bus boycott to the Delano grape strike, but it’s a different story today. According to law professor Zephyr Teachout in her book “Break ‘Em Up,” contemporary boycotts lack impact because people lose interest, public presence wanes and too few people participate for them to be effective.
So if you’ve rejoined Spotify yet are still looking to make an impact with social responsibility, here are other strategies to offset your music streaming.
Educate yourself.
Joining a movement means learning about where it has been, where it’s at now and where it’s going. Seek out editorials and stories from people directly affected by certain issues. Browse your local library or bookstore for books that inform you about your interests.
For those interested in the Black liberation movement, read activist Assata Shakur’s autobiography and journalist Santi Elijah Holley’s biography of the Shakur family, “An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created.” If contemporary activism strategy is your game, pick up “Emergent Strategy” by adrienne maree brown or “How We Show Up” by Mia Birdsong.
“In ‘How We Show Up’, I show that what separates us isn’t only the ever-present injustices built around race, class, gender, values, and beliefs, but also our denial of our interdependence and need for belonging,” Birdsong said of her book.
Remember, if you’re not a part of a marginalized group, remember that it’s not a marginalized person’s obligation to educate you. It’s up to them to want to perform the emotional labor of sharing their lived experience with you. Do your own research before engaging in a conversation about their identity or a particular topic, let them guide the conversation and be willing to listen and learn.
Listen to artists who write about social justice.
Music has been and continues to be a powerful tool in social justice movements. Through creative expression, many artists have been able to say how they’ve truly felt about causes that have affected them. Rage Against The Machine built their entire discography around that idea.
Furthermore, listening to a specific song or artist can be a gateway to learning more about a particular movement or experience of a marginalized group. Education is the first step to feeling empowered to make a difference.
Listen to punk band Against Me!’s iconic songs “I Was A Teenage Anarchist” and “Transgender Dysphoria Blues,” then pick up a copy of frontwoman Laura Jane Grace’s memoir and get reading.
Other artists to listen to include Nina Simone, the “High Priestess of Soul” who said herself, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times”; up-and-coming Indigenous indie rocker Black Belt Eagle Scout and the “anti-oppressor, anti-sucker” hip-hop duo Run the Jewels.
Attend protests.
It’s your First Amendment right to protest, so take advantage of it! The effectiveness of protests cannot be underestimated, even if nothing immediately changes from it.
“By driving media coverage, catalyzing congressional action, and shifting public opinion, nonviolent protests have been a force behind positive social change,” Andre M. Perry and Carl Romer wrote for The Brookings Institution.
Even then, recent protests have proven their ability to quickly spur change. Perry and Romer point out that international mobilization led to the arrest of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin within a week of him murdering George Floyd on camera.
To find out about protests happening in your community, keep an eye out for flyers and bulletin boards, as well as posts on social media. It also doesn’t hurt to ask friends and neighbors what they’ve heard about.
If you’re a college student, your school may have a chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, a national multi-issue student organization that does a lot of organizing work in college communities. Even if your school doesn’t have an SDS chapter, stay tuned to Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ student organization activities.
Most importantly, if you’re attending a protest, be mindful of how to protest safely and know your rights.
Get involved in your community.
Getting involved in your community is the best way to create a sustained impact. Even if it doesn’t seem like you’re doing much on the surface, the positive impact you have on others means a lot in the chaotic world we live in. The important thing to remember is that you’re doing what you can with what you have.
While you’re looking for information about protests or your next book to read, check for upcoming events like book clubs, zine fests, art markets and other group meetings. If you live in Minneapolis, check out the events calendar of the Quatrefoil Library for queer book clubs and other events.
In particular, if you live in any of these cities, you could join the rapper Noname’s book club. It’s a club aiming to uplift POC voices by highlighting two books by authors of color each month. The books are also sent to incarcerated people through the club’s Prison Program. Noname even encourages people in new cities to start their own chapters of the club.
If you’re of the punk persuasion and you live in Minneapolis, you could volunteer with Extreme Noise Records, a co-operative record store that reinvests all of its profits into the local punk community. Punk music has its roots in social criticism – according to Kimberly Drake in her book “The Violence in / of Representation: Protest Strategies from Slave Narrative to Punk Rock,” the jarring noise and unabashed lyricism of punk was meant to shock listeners out of their complacency to injustice. It worked for The Sex Pistols in 1970s London just as it did for the Riot Grrrl movement of the 90s.
You could even start by simply introducing yourself to your neighbors, co-workers or classmates. The more isolated we are from each other, the easier it is for divisiveness to grow.
Looking ahead.
Don’t feel guilty for being a Spotify user. You’re one person in the face of an extremely well-known brand that has mastered the art of retaining its users even though they miss the mark on social responsibility.
It’s even questionable whether your boycott would even be effective. As Zephyr Teachout writes: “Boycotts allow people to import virtuousness into their life without the struggle of organizing and building a coalition.” So, go build one.
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