I have been advocating for musicians to take a political stance, even going as far as endorsing the ‘right’ political candidates.
This stance has been developing for quite some time, beginning when I was in a band in Indonesia during the late ’90s—a country experiencing significant political turmoil. It was during the final months of the brutal dictator General Suharto’s regime. My band had political messages, written and performed entirely by our vocalist/lyricist. After a long and thorough debate and disagreement between the two co-founders, I eventually gave in and fully endorsed his views. It was something I felt we needed to do, given the situation in the place where we lived.
Since then, I have been involved in various forms of political activism related to my musical activities. I believe that good government benefits the music industry and, ultimately, musicians and fans.
However, times have changed. We are far from a state where people lack democracy. I now live in the United States, a place where democracy is constantly evolving—a country where the pillars of Western civilization, like civil liberties and the right to vote, were established. I’ve lived here for a total of six years and have experienced two radically different federal government regimes.
Under the first, the political situation deteriorated significantly. The Republican president showed a blatant disregard for people in general, leading the country into unnecessary crises, including a health crisis marked by the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. When several counties in the SF Bay Area began implementing shelter-in-place orders in March 2020, it only deepened the political turmoil. Musicians were left confused. They couldn’t perform or tour, which had always been their primary platform.
After 2020, a new president was elected, and a new administration took over. Gradually, things returned to normal. Music began to spread again, healing the wounds of people who had been separated for nearly two years to curb the deadly pandemic.
I leaned heavily toward the Democrats. Whatever they did or supported, I was all in. But it wasn’t until President Biden announced he would not seek re-election that I was jolted back to reality. What we are witnessing is not about the voters; it’s about political power. It always was, and it always will be. And that has little to do with what common people want.
Fine. It’s politics.
But it also made me realize that I was too deeply involved in this for far too long, and I lost sight of how powerful musicians can be through their music. If only they knew what they could achieve—things politicians can only dream of. And yet, they give endorsements to certain politicians, and forget the main reason why they become musicians in the first place: engaging with music fans.
Here are my arguments as of 08/11/2024. I may revise this post in the future, noting the revision date whenever I find something new to add to the list of reasons why not endorsing any political candidate is more impactful for musicians who care about their fans.
Reach
A liberal musician could educate their MAGA fans to respect women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and other issues that are often labeled as “liberal.” However, these are not just liberal issues—they’re human issues. How did protecting the environment become a partisan issue? We all share this one Earth, conservatives and liberals alike.
But the moment a musician publicly supports a candidate like Kamala Harris, they risk losing their MAGA fans. Those fans will then remain uneducated, continuing to endanger women and oppose environmental protection.
This is what musicians can do to mitigate the damage caused by politicians who divide the populace. It’s not about being neutral; it’s about being empathetic and refusing to become a political tool.
Across Borders
Music, as a tool for building community and communicating across borders, can achieve what politicians cannot. Musicians can educate fans across those borders without being overtly political.
Take Gojira, for example, a French band that can sing about and educate fans in Brazil. They can do this without directly opposing the far-right former President Bolsonaro and alienating his voters. Instead, they can effectively influence conservative voters to do the right thing: oppose the deforestation of the Amazon.
Not opposing Bolsonaro or endorsing his opponent is not abstaining from politics; it’s a strategic use of music’s influence, which can be more powerful when it remains candidate-agnostic. This allows it to cross borders and influence people, regardless of where a band comes from. This is a strong and powerful tool that musicians can use to educate their fans, no matter their political stance.
The Divide is Too Wide
People often misquote Desmond Tutu’s saying, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Not directly endorsing a candidate, as I mentioned above, is not about being neutral. There are bigger, more important causes at stake—causes that go beyond electing any politician to power. It’s about educating people to think for themselves and to use their right to vote, whatever their political stance.
Now, the divide between political supporters is so wide that it would be difficult, perhaps close to impossible, to bring people together again.
The ones who benefit from this divide are the politicians and the wealthy. This was never about the common people. Musicians and artists could be the bridge to close that gap, not further widen it.
