According to an Instagram post, the Zurich-based indie label BlauBlau Records cuts ties with one of its artist collectives. The label has removed the collective and two of its albums from its catalogue after allegations of sexual harassment were raised against one man of the duo.
BlauBlau Records management writes in its statement:
«The public disclosure of a years-long practice of power abuse and sexualised boundary crossing by a person who has also released music under our symbolic umbrella continues to concern us.»
Swiss public broadcaster SRF first raised the allegations publicly at the end of August as the suspect is also a praised and prize-winning journalist who was lastly employed by the young member-funded outlet «Republik». Investigations into the allegations are underway.
The now-former BlauBlau Records artist has been featured once in our curation format Weekly5. Nevertheless, we chose neither to explicitly disclose the artist's name nor to remove the feature from the website. Instead, we added contextual information about the allegations in the article, which will be updated in case of further development.
Structural Issues In The Music Business
Since allegations against Rammstein, their frontman Till Lindemann especially, have been raised, the music business finds itself more in the spotlight regarding sexism and harassment. Organisations like #musicmetoo are raising additional awareness from inside the industry.
In their statement, BlauBlau Records admits that they, although a small and independent label, are part of the industry's systemic issues:
We distance ourselves from all violence and structural abuse of power. These days, however, we are painfully aware that we are part of a structure that is partly responsible for this. And which can create situations in which violent behaviour is not recognised and discredited early enough.
