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Mannequin Pussy Issue State on Why They’re Playing Coachella

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Jan 6, 2020.

  1. Melody Bot Jan 6, 2020
    Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    Mannequin Pussy have issued a statement on why they’ve decided to play Coachella.


    why we’re playing coachella pic.twitter.com/Bkyh39HYx1

    — MANNEQUIN PUSSSY (@mannequinpussy) January 4, 2020


    Coachella as a music festival does not explicitly donate $$ to anti lgbtq groups but the owner of AEG Philip Anshutz (the corporation that bought Golden Voice which is the company that puts on and books coachella) has a history of donating his money to anti lgbtq orgs. According to tax records that Pitchfork found he and his organization may have stopped doing so in 2016 but who knows what old rich white men really do with their money and I don’t know what they’ve given to since.

    What I do know is that the network of what AEG owns makes it close to impossible to do a mass boycott of all venues/festivals which are tied to him. It seems like almost half the venues in the US are owned by AEG or Live Nation – two major corporations that more or less run the music industry.

    For example, in NYC alone AEG owns Brooklyn Steel, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Rough Trade nyc, terminal 5, and Webster hall (just to name a few). Going to a show at any of those venues puts your money back into AEG hands. In Boston you would find a similar pattern. I don’t wish to wave the flag of “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” but it is extremely tricky for bands to be sustainable or successful without being tied to these major corporations.

    We took time to discuss this decision but ultimately decided that as a band who wants to share our music with the widest audience possible and as band with women, POC, and queer members we wanted to be represented and seen at a music festival of this level. We completely understand that some people will not agree with us but it is something we are aware of and discussed prior.

    We are sorry if our decision to play let’s you down – these decisions aren’t easy as the music industry is extremely murky and very quickly becoming a monopoly in terms of who owns venues.
    ​

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  2. transrebel59 Jan 6, 2020
    (Last edited: Jan 7, 2020)
    transrebel59

    Regular

    Horrendous response.

    Edit: the more I read this, it sounds exactly like the response right wing people were giving when Chik Fil A had similar controversy. "Well, it's not exactly Chik Fil A giving money to the hate groups." "Yeah, but every company is corrupt." "Companies you support are probably worse than Chik Fil A." Lol fuck this band.
     
    BelieF and tyramail like this.
  3. Analog Drummer Jan 6, 2020
    (Last edited: Jan 6, 2020)
    Analog Drummer

    Regular

    Not wrong about every major thing being AEG, live nation and TEG. Very damn ticket I buy has them somewhere on it
     
    wrenleslie, Orla, Acedia and 3 others like this.
  4. KyleK Jan 7, 2020
    KyleK

    Let's get these people moving faster! Supporter

    I'm in no place to tell them how they should feel about this issue. And I think they're right in highlighting the practical challenges to bands in an industry with such a bad dude owning so much of it. I think there probably is a case to be made that making more people aware of him, and taking advantage of that platform can do some good too.

    All that said, just as it's their right to land at that conclusion for their band, it's absolutely fair for others to feel differently, or even feel differently about them.
     
    trevorshmevor, St. Nate, zachmacD and 1 other person like this.
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  6. Meltingplastic Jan 7, 2020
    Meltingplastic

    Newbie

    Excuse the ignorance but what is POC?

    And as soon as I hit send I realized it was person of color
     
  7. battlingaheavyheart Jan 30, 2020
    battlingaheavyheart

    searching for a former clarity

    I mean, I'm following the logic, but if they wanted to make an impact, backing out of Coachella would have been the way to do it, as it is the organization most loudly involved in this "scandal" ...

    Anyway, I find it so fascinating that any time someone issues a statement or apology, they are dragged further. Meanwhile those playing the festival and remaining quiet about their choice to do so will most likely face little to no backlash from fans.