What Is The Protest Music Project?
Online news sites like to frequently publish articles that obliviously ask, where has all the protest music gone? Sometimes they’ll be even more trite and ask, who is this generation’s Bob Dylan?
"The Protest Music Project" is a response to the misplaced and false notion that bands or musicians are no longer making music that grapples with our present world or confronts pressing problems affecting humanity.
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Back in 2015, Protest Music Project editor Kevin Gosztola co-founded an independent media organization called Shadowproof. He featured protest songs on a regular basis through the “Protest Song of the Week.”
Shadowproof shut down at the end of 2023. The Protest Music Project was on hiatus until November 2024, when resuming the project just felt appropriate and worthwhile. He’ll once again be regularly posting a “Protest Song of The Week.”
I recognize that protest song is an imperfect term. A protest song may theoretically include any artist or musician, regardless of their personal politics, who rails against whatever they feel is ailing society. An unapologetic white supremacist could be a protest musician. So describing such songs as liberation music or revolutionary music might be better.
Frankly, an unapologetic white supremacist might insist that they make music of liberation and that they record their hate-filled music to fuel a revolution, which will keep America a white country.
Let me be clear: there is no space in this project for bigotry or hate. But it is futile to agonize over what term is most appropriate. Fact is, much of this music can be found by searching for protest songs. I’ll stick with calling it protest music.
The Protest Music Project will promote a broad view of protest music. Some of the songs featured will be more overt in their revolutionary spirit than others. A few of the songs may even be from artists/bands that challenge a corporatized music industry, which is known to disincentivize unapologetic expressions of humanity.
Plenty of singers, songwriters, rappers, hip-hop artists, musicians, and bands recoil at the thought that their music may be labeled “political” or “protest music.” That is understandable. The music business is known to treat people who speak out as controversial and polarizing, which can foreclose opportunities to expand their fanbase.
By regularly featuring protest songs, I consider it a small act to help de-stigmatize songs of resistance and encourage the production of more music that keeps the issues alive and raises people’s consciousness.
The Protest Music Project may eventually expand in 2025 or later with additional members-only postings or subscriber features (music lists, etc). Yet for now, the project will focus on sharing a protest song every week, especially music released in the 21st century.
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