OREANDA-NEWS. Russian Musicians Demand to Stop the Pressure on Artists for Their Civil Position. The bands «Pornofilmy», «Nogu Svelo», Noize MC, Alexey Kortnev and others created a petition on the platform Change.org.

The petition says, that pressuring musicians and canceling concerts in 2021 has become a common practice in Russia. According to the authors, the reasons come up with different: propaganda of drugs, violence, same-sex relationships, the use of swear words in songs, disrespect for the feelings of believers. Recently, covid restrictions have been added to this list, which can justify anything.

«But no one dares to say out loud the real reason: the artist's disagreement with the political situation in the country and their active civil position. We, who dare to express our opinion, are under pressure from all sides. We are intimidated by the security forces, our concerts are turned into police raids, local officials call clubs and strongly recommend not to contact us. Thus, whole tours of musicians known throughout the country were disrupted, and with less well-known ones they generally do what they want», wrote musicians on the petition.

They thinks, that all this deprives the concert industry of the opportunity to survive after the pandemic of 2020, and the audience-to see and hear their favorite artists.

«Any disrupted concert is a budget shortfall, that could have been used to repair roads, build schools and hospitals, and improve parks. Losses amount to millions. By canceling events, officials rob the citizens of their country. They deprive everyone who works in the concert industry — from musicians to cleaners, from promoters to club security guards, from art directors to technicians, from drivers to bartenders-of their salaries and means of subsistence», says the petition.