by The estate of the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto have removed his music from streaming services in Israel.
The move is part of the No Music For Genocide campaign, which has seen hundreds of artists, including huge names such as Fontaines DC, Björk and Paramore, remove their catalogues from digital service providers in Israel.
In a statement, Sakamoto’s estate said: “The Estate of Ryuichi Sakamoto supports the ‘No Music For Genocide’ initiative. Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music is owned and distributed by various parties.”
They continued: “To the extent possible, the Estate has removed or issued formal requests to labels to remove his music from all DSP (streaming and download) services in Israel. For much of his catalog, this has already taken effect.”
Sakamoto died in 2023 following a lengthy battle with cancer. He released his final album, 12, shortly before his death.
The No Music For Genocide campaign was initially announced in September, which had 500 names signed up to the initiative. Since then, more and more artists have joined the growing list, including Lorde and Idles earlier this month.
Additionally, last week, even more names joined No Music For Genocide with artists such as Clairo and Lucy Dacus also becoming part of the campaign.
No Music For Genocide’s website describes itself as “a cultural boycott of Israel”. It continues, “Over 1000 artists and labels have geo-blocked and removed their music from that territory in response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza; occupation and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank; apartheid within Israel / ’48; political repression of Pro-Palestine efforts wherever we live; and the music industry’s own ties to weapons and crimes against humanity.”
It also says of their aims: “This tangible act is just one step toward honoring Palestinian demands to isolate and delegitimize Israel as it kills without consequence on the world stage. The successful cultural boycotts against apartheid South Africa prove that our creative work grants us agency and power. When we wield it together, we add unified pressure to a growing, global, interdependent movement, from Hollywood to the docks of Morocco.”
