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Sleigh Bells singer Alexis Krauss has opened up about the pressures many artists face amid calls to boycott major companies in the music industry.
In an Instagram post, Krauss discussed the calls for artists to boycott or cut ties with companies including Wasserman – she also name-checked Spotify, Live Nation and Ticketmaster – and explained why she felt her band can’t afford to do so.
Acts including Chappell Roan, Water For Your Eyes and Wednesday have all severed ties with the talent agency Wasserman after its CEO, Casey Wasserman, faced backlash for his email correspondence with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell over 20 years ago.
Earlier this month, Wasserman said he “deeply regrets” emails from 2003 between him and Maxwell, claiming that they were sent “long before her horrific crimes came to light”. Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino led the calls for him to step down at the time.
The messages had featured in the latest government files on the late child sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein (via The Guardian).
“I’ve been spending a lot of time lately contemplating my responsibility as an individual and an artist in a system that can be exploitative, morally bankrupt and at times criminal,” she began. “Over the course of my 28 year career in the music industry I’ve often questioned why I continue to be a part of it.”
Looking back on her time as a teenager in a band whose “body was digitally altered without my consent to make me look thinner,” she said: “Despite being in a band that I’m deeply proud of, that has tried to treat people ethically, work with individuals and companies that share our values and act with integrity, I find myself often beholden to corporations and systems that prioritize profit over ethics.
“Do I wish I could burn it all down, boycott and divest? Sure I do. But to be totally honest I can’t afford to. My band can’t afford to. Our ability to make a living in this industry is dependent on our engagement with these companies. This might not be the case for all artists but for a mid-tier band like ours, I struggle to find a way around it.”
Discussing Wasserman, she said she’d “love to just leave” but added: “Can we? No because I love and respect our agent and I trust him to make the decision that is best for himself, his family and his artists. The agents at Wasserman are not the villains.”
She continued, “Have my values aligned with every sync we’ve ever approved? No they haven’t, but does that income enable me to pay mine and my child’s health insurance every month? You bet it does … In my opinion it’s not the responsibility of the artists, especially those struggling to make a living, to fix these broken systems.”
She also said that while she’d “love” to take Sleigh Bells’ music off Spotify and stop supporting Live Nation and Ticketmaster, it wouldn’t be feasible for an act who rely on the streaming platform and “barely breaks even touring”.
A number of artists have removed their music from Spotify in recent months, following reports last summer that the then-CEO Daniel Ek led a €600million (£524million) investment into Helsing, a Munich-based company creating drones and artificial intelligence for military operations.
As for Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, regulators in the US sued them in September over alleged “illegal” tactics when reselling tickets. And in October, the Association Of Independent Festivals (AIF) called for Live Nation to be broken up for exceeding “market dominance” of arena, stadium and outdoor gigs.
Krauss finished her statement by calling on “more multimillion and billionaire artists” to hold large institutions accountable, explaining, “At some point you just don’t need anymore fucking money,” and explaining, “I’m still in this business because I love my band, I love my bandmate and I love the people who have given so much of themselves to our band. They are worth investing in, even if that means simultaneously supporting a depraved system.”
As for Sleigh Bells, their most recent album, ‘Bunky Becky Birthday Boy’ – containing the single ‘Wanna Start A Band?‘ came out in April 2025, while they headed out on a US and Canadian tour last summer.
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