It’s kind of impossible to hate the music of every “canceled” artist. Unfortunately, some fantastic artists are terrible people. It’s pretty shaky territory to be a listener right now, with the constant stream of new accusations, callouts and conflicts that we are confronted with every single day. But what exactly is cancel culture?
The first mistake most people make when discussing cancel culture is interchanging it with creating accountability. For example, mass-reporting an artist’s Spotify profile until it gets taken down or flooding the comments of a video related to the artist or their music with hate speech is cancel culture.
Publicly calling out an artist for their actions and demanding an apology is asking them to take accountability. Disregarding any piece of media that has been touched by an artist as completely untouchable and amoral to enjoy is cancel culture. Bringing to light past injustices that an artist has not sufficiently acknowledged is asking for accountability.
See the pattern here? Generally, cancel culture puts more emphasis on the actions of the fan than it does on the actions of the artist. It requires listeners to completely drop music that they enjoy to serve some greater cause of justice that will likely not affect the artist.
Accountability, on the other hand, gives listeners the freedom to do as they please while still holding the artist to a higher standard. There are plenty of artists who have been canceled but make incredibly good music. In my mind, it reeks of privilege and is the exact ideology that makes people dismiss actual efforts for artists to take accountability.
Realistically, who else but Blake Lively and Taylor Swift could romanticize doing bad things and being called out for it? One example of a truly great artist and a not upstanding person is Courtney Love. Beyond her controversy with Kurt Cobain, she has time and time again made comments and decisions that do not sit well with the public.
Love is infamous for her constant celebrity feuds with the likes of Dave Grohl, Madonna, Taylor Swift and even her own daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. Despite all of this, her music is incredibly well-written, relatable and genuine. Some of my favorite songs of hers are “Malibu,” “Doll Parts” and “Softer, Softest.”
Even though Love is not an angel of a person, the world needs more music like hers, and I do not think it is a service to anyone to completely shut her music out of the cultural zeitgeist due to her personal problems.
So, what can we do if our favorite artist is canceled? We can separate art from the artist, which is usually easier said than done. Oftentimes, the problematic aspects of an artist are not reflected in their music, or if they are, make yourself aware of those beliefs and how they might influence your listening. Additionally, save your money. If you really oppose the ideology of an artist, just don’t give them your money.
Artists make the majority of their income merch, tours and record sales, not your listening. So put your money where your mouth is, and put your listening wherever you please.
