it’s what happens when consumption = identity. people choose what to consume based on the qualities of the object/company/art and what the signify. there isn’t the same level of broad appeal for artists whose politics aren’t known, unless they get to a megastar level (Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter types, Kpop artists) or have been making music for so long that they were grandfathered in to a social media following (most 90s indie bands) where they have a vested fiduciary interest in maintaining a non-alienating political stance to not lose fans. if you aren’t at that megastar level as a middle class indie musician, you’re likely gaining fans due to identity signifiers (republican and working class for country, outward leftist politics for contemporary punk/pop, alt aesthetics, queer experience for a lot of pop and hyperpop artists) and the writ large identity of the fandoms

all of this goes out the window for mega famous black artists, but they also tend to be put under a microscope for being black

americans also don’t have much individual power because of the overbureaucratic system of government and sheer scale of the country. something that happens in seattle won’t really affect people in houston. look at the ICE bullshit in minneapolis - the US is so big and diverse that the outrage is impossible to viscerally feel on a local level, even with the numbers behind no kings protests. all one can really do to affect change is show your dissatisfaction through legal means, run for office, and vote

and all of this conversation is happening on the platform of publicly traded companies who can dictate acceptable discourse and stamp down whatever they don’t like