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Dick Pountain's avatar

I think another factor you haven't stressed is that many top rock stars became very rich.

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G. Alex Janevski, PhD's avatar

I think the very idea of "too political" is explicitly promulgated by the oligarchs to suppress dissent, and the same oligarchs happen to own all the means of music distribution.

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Liz Oxhorn's avatar

This is a fascinating analysis. I just wrote on music and politics and as a political consultant, I think it's interesting that while there has been a resurgence in music/politics overlap in recent years, 2025 has been a decidedly nonpolitical year in music.

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Chris Dalla Riva's avatar

Nice work! I’ve always been curious about this question but never been sure how to address it

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David Shumway's avatar

I'm curious what words you used besides the one's mentioned, which would seem to identify left-leaning songs. For example, did you search for more ambiguous terms such as "freedom"? Would your search have identified Merle Haggard's right-wing song "Okie from Muskogee" as political?

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G. Alex Janevski, PhD's avatar

Very good point. Almost all of Charlie Daniels' ouvre fits this, too.

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