A few weeks after I published my essay arguing that musicians don’t need to endorse political candidates to be political, I got a comment from Louise, a senior student from France. Louise was preparing a final exam project on the impact of the music industry on American elections, had read the essay, understood the argument, and wanted to go deeper.
Louise sent me six questions. Answering them made me realize I’d left some things too vague the first time.
Is voter influence from artists a good thing?
It depends on what kind.
Music reaches people before they’ve made up their minds, before they’ve decided whether something is worth caring about. A song can move someone on climate, or inequality, or war in ways no politician’s speech can. Not because the artist is smarter. Because music bypasses the part of us that’s already decided.
“Vote for Candidate X because my favorite artist said so” is not education. It just replaces one authority with another. There’s a difference between an artist making people think and an artist telling people what to think. That difference matters a lot.
The audience you lose
Louise asked whether many listeners stop following artists because of their politics. Yes. The Dixie Chicks in 2003 are the clearest American example. Natalie Maines said on a London stage that they were ashamed Bush was from Texas. Country radio dropped them almost overnight.
I understand why some artists accept that. But the fans who leave are often the ones the artist could have reached most effectively. Pick a side publicly and that door closes. You’re left talking to people who already agree, and the ones who most needed to hear the message are gone.
Taylor Swift, 2018 vs. 2024
In 2018, Swift posted about women’s rights and LGBTQ rights and told people to register to vote. No candidate named. 65,000 new voter registrations came in within 24 hours, with over 100,000 more in the next day. The reach was wide because she wasn’t asking anyone to pick a team.
In 2024, she endorsed Kamala Harris immediately after the presidential debate. It worked on the people already in her corner. Her fans who lean conservative were largely out of reach by then.
Her most effective political moment wasn’t the endorsement. It was 2018, when she was still talking to everyone.
Why Trump uses music without asking
Most public events run under blanket licenses from ASCAP and BMI. A campaign rally can play almost any song without asking the artist first. Artists who want to stop it have options — false endorsement under the Lanham Act, right of publicity claims, requesting exclusion through ASCAP or BMI directly — but none have been definitively tested in court, and all take time. Rihanna, Adele, Neil Young, and Pharrell have all tried. Campaigns know the process is slow.
The legal question is almost beside the point. When Trump plays a song and the artist objects publicly, it becomes a news cycle. The artist ends up looking like they’re attacking fans who love both. It’s a trap, and most artists walk right into it.
Look at what happened with Sabrina Carpenter. The White House posted a video of ICE raids set to her song “Juno” without her consent. She pushed back, the post got deleted, and then the administration manipulated footage of her from an SNL appearance to keep the story going. She lost control of the narrative the moment she engaged.
The emotional effect of music doesn’t care what the musician thinks politically. A crowd reacting to a song at a rally is reacting to the music, not the musician’s views. That power is available to anyone who presses play. Politicians know this. Most musicians act like they don’t.
What I took from this
I wrote the original essay in August 2024 and said I’d come back to it. Louise’s questions didn’t change the argument. They sharpened it.
A musician’s political reach is wider before endorsing a candidate than after. Music can do things politics can’t. Turn it into a campaign tool and you’ve narrowed it.
Here’s what I can say more clearly now. Music’s power to reach people doesn’t depend on what the musician thinks or says. It’s in the music itself. Anyone can use it, including people you’d never choose to help. The Sabrina Carpenter situation is one example. The Trump rallies are another. The music keeps doing its job regardless of who’s in the room.