More Than 1,000 Artists Are Boycotting Amazon Over ICE, U.S. Government Contracts

On October 23rd, in an open letter entitled “No Music for ICE!” a collection of musicians announced a boycott of Amazon because the company provides web services to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other government agencies tasked with confronting illegal immigration.

While most people are familiar with Amazon through its ubiquitous online store and services such as Amazon Music, a large chunk of their revenue (and profit) comes from Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides cloud computing not only to businesses of all sizes but also to the U.S. government.

ICE along with Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement are among many government entities that depend on Amazon to run their agencies, and many musicians are upset about this. They are so upset that they say, until Amazon cuts its ties with these agencies, they will not directly work with the company on future projects or perform at its events.

At the moment, the group has more than 1,000 signatories. This includes:

• Ted Leo of Montreal
• Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis
• Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto
• Hurray for the Riff Raff

A number of independent record companies have also signed the letter.

The boycott, though, has its limits.

As of yet, none of the signatories of the letter have actually removed their music from Amazon, whether this music be streamed, downloaded or physically purchased, and some are criticizing the organizers of the campaign because of this.

In response, Dupuis acknowledged that the criticism is valid. He and others further cited the difficulties in removing their music from a single platform but insist that in the future they may extend the boycott to music sales. Still, for now he believes that it is important to take a stand and take the first step toward initiating change.

Dupuis and others behind the boycott also say that they will not target artists that do not participate in the boycott.