This article was produced as part of (JR)’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
The first time 14-year-old Matan Stein, an avid contemporary music fan in Israel, tried to play one of his favorite songs and nothing happened, he was confused. The track was still there on his playlist, the artist name unchanged, but when he tapped it, it simply wouldn’t play.
In Israel, more than 60% of people listen to digital audio each week. But for music fans there, access to their favorite songs is no longer guaranteed.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the No Music For Genocide coalition has amassed a list of 1,000 musicians who have ask their distributors to block their music from being streamed in Israel. According to its website, the boycott came in response to Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza, occupation of the West Bank, claims of apartheid and “political repression of Pro-Palestine efforts around the globe.”
“From the very start of the war [in Gaza] I’ve seen Israeli people saying that their playlist is being shortened because of antisemitic statements,” Stein said.
For many Israeli teens and Jewish listeners abroad, the boycott feels more like a personal insult than a political statement, and that fans who have little political power are being implicated in a cultural boycott because of factors beyond their control.
The organization promotes geo-blocking, urging artists to request that their music distributors set geographical restrictions on streaming platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music. Popular artists who have signed on include Lorde, Paramore and Björk.
In a statement on Instagram, Paramore pledged to join No Music For Genocide, stating, “We simply cannot support a genocide.”
Even in the midst of a ceasefire in Gaza, No Music For Genocide has committed to continue their geo-blocking and boycotts “until Palestinians achieve their rightful struggle for return, self-determination, and liberation.” The movement has not yet released a statement about the current conflicts with Iran and Lebanon.
This month, 1,100 musicians, including Peter Gabriel, Kneecap, Roger Waters and Brian Eno, signed an open letter from No Music for Genocide urging a boycott of Eurovision 2026, the annual song contest. The campaign accuses the Eurovision organizers of “normalizing” Israeli actions in Gaza.
“When certain singers block us from hearing their songs, it just gives me a bad feeling,” Stein said. “I think music should be for everyone and everyone deserves the right to hear it.”
Talia Borenstein, a 21-year-old Israeli-American living in Israel, spends a lot of time with her friends talking about geo-blocking.
It often “comes up in conversation, especially when a favorite artist takes a strong anti-Israel stance or when music becomes unavailable here,” she said.
Borenstein said that the movement has an impact that goes deeper than unavailable songs on a playlist.
“Geo-blocking feels isolating and unfair,” Borenstein said. “Music is usually something that brings people together, so when it’s restricted based on where you live, it feels personal even if it’s not intended that way.”
However, teens in Israel are actively finding ways around the geo-block, according to Borenstein. Israeli youth share playlists that highlight Israeli artists, use virtual private networks or alternative platforms to access blocked music, buy physical copies of music such as records and DVDs and actively promote local music. Some have also been speaking out directly about the separation of politics and art as well as the negative impacts of cultural boycotts on youth.
“Most of what I’ve seen is grassroots rather than formal,” Borenstein said. “It feels less like an organized campaign and more like individuals trying to create space for themselves.”
Still, the emotional impact lingers. Geo-blocking “does affect how connected [Israelis and Jews around the world] feel to global culture,” Borenstein said. “For some people, it feels like being pushed out of places that used to feel universal.”
This movement has also reached teens beyond Israel, particularly in the United States.
Naomi Spencer, 15, from Weston, Connecticut, considers geo-blocking “unfair.”
“It feels like [the artists] are punishing a whole group of people just because of where they were born and where they live,” the Jewish teen said.
Lorde, seen performing in New York City in 2017, joined the “No Music for Genocide” campaign, a cultural boycott urging artists to geo-block their music in Israel. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Even some strong pro-Palestinian supporters of Palestine do not necessarily agree with the No Music For Genocide movement.
“I feel like it doesn’t really do anything to impact or persuade the government by stopping people who don’t have any political power from listening to music,” a 17-year-old in Denver, a fan of alternative grunge music, said. The teen asked to remain anonymous because she is critical of Israel during the current conflict and her family disagrees with her.
The Denver teen feels that, although the geo-blocking movement is “appropriate if [artists] feel the need” to boycott, it lacks the ability to create real change.
“If [critics of Israel] are going to boycott something,” the teen said, “boycott something impactful that would persuade the [Israeli] government to reconsider their action in Palestine.”
(JR) made several attempts to get a comment from No Music For Genocide via email but did not receive a response.
Online the organization cites the success of past movements, such as the anti-apartheid and Russia-Ukraine boycotts as their models for how to lead a geo-blocking and cultural boycott protest. They aim to convince the major music labels — Sony, Warner and Universal — to cease operations in Israel and provide humanitarian support like they did when Russia attacked Ukraine.
“Culture can’t stop bombs on its own,” No Music For Genocide said in a September 2025 statement about their goals and motivations. “But it can help reject political repression, shift public opinion toward justice, and refuse the art-washing and normalisation of any company or nation that commits crimes against humanity.”
While the results of its efforts to isolate Israel aren’t clear, the boycott may have inspired Israeli teens to pay more attention to the music being made at home.
“I’ve noticed that many people, including myself, are more intentional about supporting Israeli artists or artists that don’t engage in blanket boycotts,” Borenstein said. “Many teens still listen to the same international music—sometimes through workarounds—but there’s more awareness and less emotional attachment than before.”
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