Ethics & cancel culture: Touring’s big questions

Cancel culture and the ethical decisions confronting the touring business were tackled head on in ILMC 37’s gripping Ethics & Activism: Adapting to Artist & Fan Views panel.

Chaired by Media Insight Consulting chief Chris Carey, the session at London’s Royal Lancaster ran the rule over some of the thornier questions facing the industry in 2025.

Ola Krakowska of Poland’s largest independent promoter Alter Art, organiser of Open’er Festival, spoke of the “moral backbone” that guides the company’s decision-making on everything from sponsorship partnerships to its artist lineup.

“It’s about integrity, honesty and also fairness,” she said. “We all know how difficult it is to navigate, but we really stick to this. We always double-check everything that we’re doing, and we really dig into it. Each year we say no to several sponsors. We have cases of companies that we dropped because of moral reasons.

“We do the same with the artists. I’m sorry, but we’re checking you guys…. We really focus on the lineups and we really check the backgrounds.”

Asked whether its policy made it hard to balance the books, Krakowska responded: “No, I think that when you’re good, the good people come to you.”

She also expressed her admiration for Dua Lipa for speaking out against performing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to the country’s human rights record.

“We really admire those artists who just say no,” said Krakowska. “I love the quote [from Dua Lipa]. She basically said, ‘I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.'”

“Where and when possible, we should all be amplifying our voices and supporting one another”

Music and culture executive Amanda Maxwell considered the pitfalls artists can encounter by taking a stand publicly, thereby putting themselves at risk of being “immediately shut down and immediately cancelled”.

“That is the tightrope that everybody is very concerned about at the moment,” she advised. “It feels particularly hot – or has done over the last 18 months – with various different things that we’ve seen going on in the world, so it becomes really difficult. But I think where and when possible, we should all be amplifying our voices and supporting one another.”

Artist manager Bradley Kulisic of Singing Light Music pointed out that some artists “self-censor”.

“If people want to be agnostic about what they say on the stage and to their audiences, they should be allowed to,” he added. “And if people want to confront and put opinions forward and, in turn, accept the accountability for that, I would support them as well – as long as they’re not being disgusting or exclusive.”

However, he acknowledged that by sticking their head above the parapet, acts left themselves open to criticism down the line.

“If you are putting yourself in various activist conversations, you will be held to a certain standard,” he said. “And if, for whatever reason, you’ve crossed the picket line on a certain issue that that community feels strongly about, you will be held to a harder account. And whether or not I think that’s fair… if you get in the ring, you’re going to get hit.”

“More and more artists are  probably going to just disengage… because they think, ‘Is it worth me facing the criticism?”

Alt-J’s Gus Unger-Hamilton brought up the recent backlash to Stormzy’s partnership with McDonald’s.

“I think if an actor or musician who had no history of activism had done a brand partnership with McDonald’s, they wouldn’t face as much criticism as Stormzy did,” he said. “I don’t know how you protect artists in an age of social media because, of course, the democracy of social media is that everybody has the same voice. You can write a tweet at an artist and that tweet has just as much relevance as any other tweet that was sent that day to that artist.

“Sadly, I think more and more artists are probably going to just disengage, not look at their social media, not put their hand up and stand up for good causes, because they think, ‘Is it worth me facing the criticism? Do you want me to lose fans over this? Maybe I’m just going to kind of keep my head down, stay in my seat and just make music,’ which I think is a pity.”

Unger-Hamilton suggested that several issues were “peaking at once” in the current climate, creating a dilemma for musicians.

“The cost of touring crisis for artists is really, really hard,” he said. “Artists are more than ever struggling to pay the bills go on tour. And I’m not just talking about grassroots artists, I’m talking about artists who might be perceived to be at the top of their game, and therefore, where corporate partnerships and endorsements might well be a way to actually balance the books.

“Unfortunately, that is coming at a time of greater than ever scrutiny and a feeling perhaps that people are either perfect or completely terrible. There’s not much nuance in the views of people in that way.”

“Where is the line between approving of a regime by going to a place, or going there and bringing new perspectives and a new message?”

Unger-Hamilton admitted to personal regrets over playing in certain territories in the past.

“We’ve played in Russia two or three times – of course, before Ukraine was invaded – and at the time, I think the view we took was, ‘Where do you stop with scrutinising a country’s ethical record?’ You can’t really say where the line is,” he argued. “Everybody talks about the boycotts of South Africa that went on in the 80s. That’s generally agreed to have been a very good thing, but it’s hard to say now what that equivalent is.

“Let’s not forget that Russia was under a lot of quite correct international criticism for its treatment of LGBT people – it wasn’t like invading Ukraine was the first bad thing Russia had done in the 21st century. We played in Ukraine as well, I’m happy to say, and would like to play there again if we could.”

Unger-Hamilton pondered whether playing in a country automatically represented an endorsement of its government.

“I suppose there seems to be a consensus that the answer to that question is yes, but I’m not sure if that is true every time,” he said. “I do think that there is a validity in the viewpoint that perhaps by going to a country with a repressive regime and bringing in music which people might not have heard before – which might have a message in it that would counter what those regimes are saying to their people – could be a good thing.

“It is really hard to know where the line is. Where is the line between approving of a regime by going to a place, or going there and bringing new perspectives and a new message to that place?”

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