“I feel conflicted participating”
Japanese Breakfast‘s Michelle Zauner has responded to backlash over her planned appearance at Amazon-affiliated festival Intersect which takes place in Las Vegas from December 6-7.
After The Black Madonna said that she was “furious” to have been booked for the event, claiming that there were no mentions of the festival’s affiliation to Amazon Web Services when she was approached, Zauner says she was also unaware of the company’s involvement.
However while The Black Madonna has subsequently cancelled her appearance, Japanese Breakfast has indicated that she may still perform on the line-up that includes acts including Foo Fighters, Beck, Kacey Musgraves and Anderson .Paak.
Responding to a critical tweet describing her booking as “extremely wack”, Zauner said: “Everyone has the right to be upset. I will say like The Black Madonna it was not brought to my attention this was an AWS event.
Everyone has the right to be upset. I will say like The Black Madonna it was not brought to my attention this was an AWS event. But the line to draw in the sand when it comes to branded content feels a bit unclear to me when operating in an industry that relies on a lot of
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) October 18, 2019
branded content and working within the systemic confines of tech companies being in control of a majority of our royalties. Remember when we are all yes slay queen and this woman likely took over a hundred times our guarantee to stream on amazon? pic.twitter.com/Xwwe1mK79h
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) October 18, 2019
“But the line to draw in the sand when it comes to branded content feels a bit unclear to me when operating in an industry that relies on a lot of branded content and working within the systemic confines of tech companies being in control of a majority of our royalties.”
Posting a picture of Fleabag and Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, she said: “Remember when we are all yes slay queen and this woman likely took over a hundred times our guarantee to stream on amazon?”
When we signed on for this fest months ago we weren’t told it was presented by AWS. I agree that this and most corps have despicable practices and feel conflicted participating as I did w Coachella. I’m still uncertain how to move forward as a small indie act on a bill.
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) October 18, 2019
Who… has done that? I don’t think any of us on the festival claimed this was our only shot to make money. I am a little confused why we are complacent to support art that takes 100x the amount of this festival guarantee from the same resource ie shows like fleabag, etc
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) October 18, 2019
It’s hard not to be defensive and snarky on here. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I don’t want to belittle an important dialogue. I feel conflicted. I want to listen and act accordingly. I’m sorry if you hate me for it. I’m going to log off for awhile.
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) October 18, 2019
After being criticised further for “shrugging your shoulders” on the issue, she said: “When we signed on for this fest months ago we weren’t told it was presented by AWS. I agree that this and most corps have despicable practices and feel conflicted participating as I did w Coachella. I’m still uncertain how to move forward as a small indie act on a bill.”
After fellow musician Adult Mom said that “the defense that artists need to make their money somewhere is OBSCENE,” Zauner said “I am a little confused why we are complacent to support art that takes 100x the amount of this festival guarantee from the same resource ie shows like fleabag, etc.
Zauner has since said that she is taking a break from Twitter following the backlash, saying “It’s hard not to be defensive and snarky on here. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I don’t want to belittle an important dialogue. I feel conflicted. I want to listen and act accordingly. I’m sorry if you hate me for it. I’m going to log off for awhile.”
