“My Bloody Valentine” joins ‘Israel’ music boycott

• Iconic shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine joined the "No Music for Genocide" boycott, geo-blocking their music catalog on streaming platforms within ‘Israel’.
• The move is part of a growing cultural protest against ‘Israel's’ actions in Gaza, urging artists to reject normalization and exert economic pressure on the music industry.

The shoegaze rock band My Bloody Valentine has become the latest high-profile act to join the "No Music for Genocide" cultural boycott, effectively blocking access to their music catalog on streaming platforms within ‘Israel’.

This move is part of a broader protest against ‘Israel's’ genocide in Gaza.

The campaign, launched on September 18, 2025, by a decentralized network of musicians and independent labels, calls on artists to geo-block their music in ‘Israel’ to reject normalization and exert economic pressure on the music industry.

Drawing inspiration from the cultural boycotts of apartheid-era South Africa and the music industry's response to Russia’s war with Ukraine in 2022, the initiative has rapidly grown from over 400 initial signatories to more than 1,000 artists and labels by late November 2025.

My Bloody Valentine's participation was highlighted in recent announcements alongside other new joiners, including rapper Denzel Curry, singer Shygirl, Paris Paloma, Vacations, Innervisions, Saba, and YHWH Nailgun.

The band, known for seminal albums like Loveless (1991) and their pioneering role in the shoegaze genre, has not issued a direct public statement on the decision.

However, frontman Kevin Shields has previously voiced criticism of US, UK, and ‘Israeli’ policies, stating in a 2025 interview: "The bad things done by the US - UK - Israel will not stop unless you make them stop."

Organizers of "No Music for Genocide" say that the boycott targets ‘Israel's’ violations, including nearly 500 reported breaches of the US-brokered ceasefire deal from October 2023.

The Gaza Health Ministry said over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023.

Campaign participants argue that withholding music is a non-violent way to support Palestinians and align with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

Earlier waves of joiners include prominent names such as Massive Attack, Fontaines D.C., Rina Sawayama, Japanese Breakfast, Lorde, Paramore, Hayley Williams, Björk, IDLES, Clairo, MUNA, Lucy Dacus, and the estate of Ryuichi Sakamoto.

In October 2025, artists like Clairo, Hot Chip, Nightmare on Wax, Orbital, and boygenius' Lucy Dacus also restricted their music in ‘Israel’, contributing to the boycott's momentum despite the ceasefire.