Asklemmy

I mean, theres 3 categories for giving them a pass on their transgressions (as a fan, not legally or morally speaking) IMO.

1. The art/performance was just so far beyond good that you cant deny the cultural significance. E.g Michael Jackson, Elvis, Tupac.

2. You had a personal connection to the art before they did the shitty thing or before it came to light. (In my case: early Chris Brown, Kid Rock) They were big in my late teens and early 20s and I have positive memories associated with their songs. Not the percieved quality of the art.

3. They had their day in court, did their time and time has passed. E.g Mark Wahlberg, I dont know the guy, I dont know if he is a good person or not these days. But the last documented occasion of him being a huge violent racist asshole is 1992... 32 years ago.

Nope.

Eric Clapton is an anti-VAX conspiracy theorist and a racist. Van Morrison is anti-VAX conspiracy theorist and a racist. John Lennon is a serial abuser drug addict, beat women and abandoned his own son. Steven Tyler from Aerosmith is a pedophile. Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot chili peppers is a pedophile.

Etc.

Anytime I learned something horrible about someone famous, I write them off completely.

Yes. It's a basic skill you need to learn before you can even attempt to change our hellworld.

Yeah I can. Gonna get a bit hippie on you here but it really comes down to how the art make you feel and not the artist. One personal example is jeepers creepers for me. I love that movie but victor salva is a POS that deserves to be castrated. Now another question you should ask yourself is the actual companies behind the media could be evil too, overworking their employees, underpaying them, etc..., are you going to stop watching it? A good example of this is the anime industry or some record producers

Generally I don't have a hard time separating the art from the artist. And it's probably bad and selfish, but if I had to stop listening to David Bowie, Eric Clapton, and John Lennon, I'd be so depressed. The world is deeply shitty, so I'm hanging on to whatever happiness I can find. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I can live with artists having different views/believes/opinions, but when it comes to actions they did, then it's a different story for me.

E.g. I don't enjoy Rammstein anymore

Alright which one of you is still listening to Lostprophets?

Yeah, just do a little piracy

If I like the song then I don't care who the artist is but if I really don't like the artist and feel so strongly about it that I want to make a statement then I simply don't listen to them.

Originally I thought I could, but no. Because when I listen to the music, I'm giving that artist money, attention, and power.

That results in giving them a bigger platform to spew their bigoted opinions/actions is counterintuitive to my goals. I would rather not.

If it makes sense to consider the artist's actions and morality, it makes just as much sense to consider that of the producers et. al.

That leaves us with virtually no content tho.

Yes. You listen to music without knowing anything about who wrote it and you feel something. That feeling has nothing to do with the composer or performer. Now if you find out the composer/performer is a "bad" person, I would recommend not giving them any money that could contribute to them spreading their "bad stuff". I'd still enjoy the music because your enjoyment isn't furthering their bad agenda.

Yes I do this very easily. I listen to music and don’t spend any time at all learning about the artists.

Yes, always.

So many musicians and other artists are not only complete assholes, but also complete morons. But, I don’t listen to their music for their antics or their intelligence, I listen for the music.

I still listen to Johnny Craig and the Lost Prophets even though I know how horrible they are in real life. Because to me, the music is about the feeling that it elicits in me, not about the creator. I don’t care who made a thing, I care about the thing.

Edit: that said, I’ve not purchased music by those two, and instead pirated it.

I think it’s crucial…

Yes, because I don't care for the individual.

Obviously you can

Yes. It's fine.

If I liked them before I knew, yes. But if I knew going in, it’s hard not to think about.

I have to, otherwise I wouldnt listen to music at all...

Billy Corgan is that guy for me. He comes off as a total asshole in every interview I’ve listened to him give.

I'd imagine so but I don't currently listen to any artists that have done anything bad as far as I'm aware.

There is so much music now, once I found out an artist doesn’t align with my values it’s easy to drop them.

Depends on how parasocial I am. Never gave much of a shit about Win Butler as a person, so I don't really think about the shit he's gotten up to, but the several months when I thought Conor Oberst might be a rapist were devastating

I just try to avoid giving money to the living bad ones

To an extent I can, like Axl is a complicated one given his mental health issues. Nothing excuses his behaviour but he seems to have grown as a person and managed to somewhat control his shittier side.

But there's definitely a line. I can't really enjoy rammstein or die antwoord anymore