Sleigh Bells’ Alexis Krauss explains pressure of industry boycotts on smaller artists: “My band can’t afford to”
Sleigh Bells’ Alexis Krauss has spoken out about the nuance of industry boycotts of companies such as Spotify and Wasserman Music from the perspective of smaller artists.
The musician took to Instagram on February 8th to share a statement on her thoughts on the various industry boycotts, which have gained traction in recent months, in particular with regard to Spotify, Live Nation, and Wasserman Music.
It comes in light of Casey Wasserman, the CEO of the music talent agency Wasserman Music, being under fire in recent days for appearing in the Epstein files, led by calls from Best Coast’s Bethany Consentino for him to step down.
Krauss thanked Cosentino for speaking out before beginning her own extensive statement, which said: “Today, despite being in a band I’m deeply proud of, that has tried to treat people ethically, work with individuals and companies that share our values and act with integrity, I find myself often beholden to corporations and systems that prioritise profits over ethics.”
She added: “Do I wish I could burn it all down, boycott and divest? Sure I do. But to be totally honest I can’t afford to. My band can’t afford to.”
Going on to explain her thoughts on each of Spotify, Ticketmaster, and Live Nation, Krauss said she would “love” to stop working with these companies but that it would not be financially viable for her band.
It comes as many artists, including the likes of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, have moved their discographies away from Spotify and increasingly on to platforms such as Bandcamp in recent months, particularly in response to its former CEO Daniel Ek’s €600 million investment in an AI military firm.
Subsequently, moving to address the effects of another company in the form of Wasserman, Krauss explained that she “loves and respects” Sleigh Bells’ representative at the company, and “the agents at Wasserman are not the villains.”
She also added that she doesn’t believe it to be the sole responsibility of smaller artists to “fix these broken systems”, and that change would need to be enacted from “accountability for those at the highest levels of power”.
Ultimately, Krauss admitted: “None of these companies are going to bat an eyelid if Sleigh Bells bails on them,” which she described as “a shitty place to be but it’s the truth.”
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