Politics and Musicians - What Could Go Wrong

Politics and Musicians What Could Go Wrong

Hey everybody, it is the Trout once again here on The Trout Show with an episode of Vinyl to Viral. Today's topic, politics and musicians. What could go wrong, right? Because when you mix the passion of music, the outspokenness of people in the world of music, and the divisive minefield of politics, well, things can go sideways really fast.

Today we're going to explore how artists' political stances, endorsements, protests, or even just their songs being co-opted, spark backlash, boycotts, career hits, fan splits, and just about everything in between in the cultural firestorm. So sit back, get yourself a cup of coffee, or your favorite adult beverage, because politics and musicians, well, that's next on The Trout Show. Ah, politics and music.

They've always collided, haven't they, since the 60s when Bob Dylan was doing those protest songs about the war in Vietnam? But in recent years, especially 2024 to 2026, it's exploded because the social media is amplifying everything. People get on there and do whatever they want and say what they want to. Artists' views alienated half their audience.

Now I'm going to tell you something about what I think about politics and music. I don't talk about it. I've interviewed hundreds of musicians, and guess what? It doesn't come up.

I don't even broach the subject with people, because you know why? I don't want their opinions, not that they're not important, it's just that I don't want to sift into what I'm doing, because my job here, I think, is just to provide you pure information about the music industry. So why am I talking about politics now? Well, it's affected so many different artists and fan base, both in Europe and in America, even Canada, and I know that a lot of people listen to this podcast all over the world. I'm listened to in over 3,500 cities worldwide and 120 countries.

So it's important for me to kind of tell you how this affects you as a fan or if you as a musician. So one of the things that I've noticed lately in the last few years in politics is that musicians tell politics to stop using their songs in political rallies, in political commercials. Artists like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Foo Fighters, Jack White, ABBA, Celine Dion, Neil Young, The White Stripes, and dozens more, including groups like Green Day, Sheryl Crow, and even Mick Jagger, be it what they call the Artist Rights Alliance, have demanded stop.

So in other words, they go, I don't want you, you can't use my song. Now I looked into this and I said, wait a minute, if you pay the rights to pro organizations like BMI and ASCAP, why can't you use the song? Well part of it is because they may have contractual relationships with their publishing company that says, I still control the song myself. In other words, if I don't want somebody to use it, I can do that.

And so they stop them. They make their comments. And most of the time when they make it, it's not very well subdued.

They just say, stop using my song and you're, don't do that. Of course, when they do that, it tells you exactly what they think of the politician that's using their song. What about musicians that endorse a candidate? How does that work out for them? Negative or positive? Well, here's a few that you may have to question what they did.

Taylor Swift endorsed Harris in the 2024 election for president of the United States. Drew huge conservative criticism. Didn't affect him that much because she was selling out everywhere.

Kanye West was a huge Trump supporter. Emanated a lot of his fans because they didn't like that. Kid Rock and Ted Nugent, pro-Trump people, are right-leaning.

They sparked boycotts from the left, of course. What about the flip side, progressives? Artists like Beyonce, Bad Bunny, Chepo Rone, they face, you know, conservative outrage over their themes. So you have both sides of that coin and you're like, okay, is it a good idea to talk about politics or not? And what about artists that use their stage presence for a talk about politics? Some of the more prominent ones that do this on a regular basis, Olivia Rodrigo who talks about abortion rights.

Green Day talks about political protests they always do. And sometimes when you do this, you can't travel. Some of the artists have not been able to go to other countries and not get visas because of their political stance.

Artists like Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Beyonce, Bad Bunny, or Bruce Springsteen, they are always riling up right-wing critics over their progressive sexual themes. In one case where a rep group out of Ireland called Kneecap, their pro-Palestinian views led to bans, especially in Canada. They were denied entry.

Visas issued were canceled. North American dates and legal battles came about because of their opinions. And what about other places? The Kennedy Center is well known.

Trump took it over. People put his name on there, said the Canadian Trump Center. A lot of artists said, I don't like that.

The Turing Group of Hamilton said, we're not gonna perform there along with others pulling out because of protest and perceived political interference. It sparked widespread resistance, and they didn't like it. And we know recently, if you're listening to this right after the Grammys, people got up there, musicians got up there, Billy Eilish is one of them was protesting about politics in America.

Can't say enough about Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show, making political statements. And Bruce Springsteen is on a tour this year that he said he's gonna blast Trump everywhere he goes. I don't understand it myself why they can't move on and just play their guitar and sing.

But what about the other side of this? What about conservative backlash? People like Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Cardi B have been, well, they've been called out for new calls for boycotts of their music and their concerts. And then you have artists that declined going to the White House. The President wants to honor them, and they go, we're not going because the President, I don't like the President.

So there's always legal battles and boycotts, visa denials, award stage statements, venue cancellations. It just goes on and on, and I go back to what I said earlier. And that is, why did they do it? I still believe that the majority of the people that do this are well-established artists that can afford to lose their half their base.

I don't like it, and I wish they'd, as Frank Zappa said on one or two of his albums, just shut up and play guitar. In fact, speaking of that, Gene Simmons of Kiss fame said recently, 2026, shut up and sing. He said he wished celebrities would stop lecturing on politics.

I don't disagree with him. I wish they'd just perform and get off the stage, but that's my opinion. Kind of wish we could go back to the World War II time when all the celebrities, mostly actors, were supporting America's effort during the war event of World War II, they were out all the time trying to get people to buy war bonds to support the war in Europe and Pacific, but we don't seem to have that as much now.

America is a pretty divided country, 50-50, one side, one other side. So that's why I say over and over again, why would I want to alienate 50% of the population with my opinions? But I go back to what I am 100% believe in as an American, is the Bill of Rights and your freedom of speech. It's up to you as a fan, as a musician, decide what's best for you.

And only you can make that decision, if you like it or you don't like it. That will all come out, whether you buy concert tickets, merchandise, or support these artists, or not support them, in your opinion. So that's what I think about politics and music, what could go wrong? Well, that's it for this episode of The Trout Show.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate it very, very much. If you'd like to make a comment, let me know what you think. Just send me an email at rickatthetroutshow.com, rickatthetroutshow.com, positive or negative.

I'd love to always hear from my people out there listening to this. And if you want to know more about The Trout Show, just visit my website at thetroutshow.com, where you can find more information about all the podcasts, the interviews I do, and everything else that's going on, including my recently released album. So until next time, people, you know what I always say, it's only rock and roll, but I love it.

See ya!

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