This call comes from PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. PACBI is one of the founders of the broader BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) — a nonviolent movement established by Palestinian civil society that aims to pressure Israel through boycotts, just as the apartheid regime in South Africa was boycotted globally in the 1980s.
A few terms that appear throughout this text:
Cultural boycott. The idea is simple: artists are asked not to perform in Israel as long as Palestinian human rights are being violated, and not to collaborate with institutions that contribute to those violations. This is the same approach used against South Africa at the time, when many artists refused to play Sun City.
Artwashing. This means using art, music, and major shows to project a cheerful, normal, and attractive image of a country that is simultaneously committing serious crimes. The glamour of a concert diverts attention from what is actually happening.
PACBI is calling for targeted, strategic pressure on Live Nation Entertainment — the world’s largest concert and festival organiser — until the company takes responsibility for what PACBI calls its complicity in the war in Gaza.
For Dutch readers: Live Nation is closer to home than you might think. In the Netherlands, the company operates under the name Mojo Concerts. Mojo organises events including Pinkpop, Lowlands, Down The Rabbit Hole, North Sea Jazz and Bospop, owns venues such as the Ziggo Dome and AFAS Live, and also owns ticketing platform Ticketmaster. There’s a good chance you’ve bought a ticket for an event that ultimately traces back to Live Nation.
How Live Nation gives a dictatorship a makeover
For more than ten years, Live Nation Israel has been a driving force behind international artists performing in Israel — and thereby ignoring the nonviolent call from Palestinian civil society to do precisely the opposite. Live Nation Israel was formed when Live Nation acquired a majority stake in Israeli company Bluestone Entertainment.
Artists who performed there include major names such as Imagine Dragons, Christina Aguilera, the Backstreet Boys, Maroon 5, and Bon Jovi. They often played at venues like Hayarkon Park and Live Park in Rishon LeZion — locations built on the remains of Palestinian villages whose residents were expelled.
More recently, Live Nation Israel publicly declared its support for the Israeli military, stating it stood “behind the IDF soldiers and security forces” at the moment that army was carrying out what is described as the first phase of the genocide in Gaza. The UN Commission of Inquiry and the International Association of Genocide Scholars are among the most recent bodies to characterise what is happening in Gaza as genocide.
Who else is involved
The money flows behind Live Nation run deep. Keeping it brief, the key connections are:
Live Nation’s largest shareholder is the American conglomerate Liberty Media. A Liberty investment fund puts money into Israeli tech, cyber, and telecom companies — sectors with close ties to the Israeli military and intelligence services.
The next two largest institutional investors are The Vanguard Group and BlackRock. Both are named in a recent UN report for major investments in companies that profit from the occupation and the war — including Palantir, Lockheed Martin, and Caterpillar. These same investors also hold stakes in other entertainment companies, such as Netflix, Disney, and cinema chain AMC.
Several Live Nation board members also have ties to Israeli politics and industry. A recently added board member is Richard Grenell, a close adviser to President Trump and an outspoken supporter of Israel. Other board members have ties to Liberty Media or to Israeli tech companies.
The point: this is not one isolated misstep, but a web of financial and governance connections.
This is bigger than one company
Live Nation has been under fire for years — from artists, fans, and crew alike. And it’s not only about Gaza.
A (near-)monopoly. When Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster, it triggered a lawsuit from the US Department of Justice; forty US states accused the company of running an illegal monopoly. A separate case from the US competition authority followed, concerning unfair ticket trading. Amid all that litigation, Live Nation reportedly donated half a million dollars to Trump’s inauguration.
Familiar in the Netherlands: Live Nation (via Mojo) dominates the market here too. The company organises the major festivals, owns the major venues, and controls Ticketmaster. Independent organisers and smaller festivals have long complained that exclusivity contracts make it near-impossible to compete. Fans grumble about Ticketmaster’s high service fees and “dynamic” pricing, where ticket prices rise as demand increases.
Exploitation. Leveraging its dominant position, Live Nation drives a hard bargain. In a leaked memo, the company used the COVID pandemic as a pretext to cut artist fees and claim a hefty share of merchandise revenue. Musicians and crew have seen their wages stagnate or fall for years, while the company continues to profit from ever-rising ticket prices.
Homogenisation of the music landscape. Critics argue that Live Nation’s dominance hollows out local music scenes and makes everything look the same. In Portland, Maine, local promoters and musicians’ unions successfully blocked the construction of a new Live Nation venue. PACBI sees such struggles as part of the same broader fight and supports these initiatives.
The demands
PACBI is calling for strategic BDS pressure on Live Nation Entertainment until the company:
- shuts down Live Nation Israel, its Israeli subsidiary;
- applies the same ethical standards across its entire network regarding who it programmes and partners with;
- respects PACBI and BDS movement guidelines and positions across its entire network.
What we ask of venues and festivals
Festivals and venues that are part of — or run or programmed by — Live Nation cannot simply detach themselves from the parent company. They have little influence over major decisions. But that is precisely why they are well-placed to make a difference, and why PACBI argues they have a moral obligation to do so.
We therefore ask all venues and festivals affiliated with Live Nation to:
- Publicly call on Live Nation to shut down its Israeli subsidiary;
- Introduce their own ethical standards for programming and partnerships, following PACBI/BDS guidelines — regardless of what the parent company decides;
- Publicly condemn the complicity of Live Nation’s investors.
We will continue applying pressure to these festivals and venues until all of these points are met.
What we ask of artists, fans, and staff
Artists: pressure Live Nation’s festivals and venues to meet the demands above.
Fans, festival-goers, and audiences: help this campaign grow and spread the message.
Staff and crew: we stand with you. We hope you find ways to raise these demands within your own organisations.
The moment is now
As the war in Gaza enters its third year, the urgency of confronting complicity with injustice — including in the music and events industry — has never been greater.
And the movement is growing, including close to home:
Eurovision Song Contest. For the first time in 24 years, the Netherlands did not participate in 2026. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS withdrew because Israel was admitted by the EBU, citing the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, the erosion of press freedom, and political interference. Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland also stayed away for the same reasons. A significant portion of the “Eurovision family” was thus absent from the world’s biggest live music event.
No Music for Genocide. More than a thousand artists and labels have now blocked their music from streaming in Israel through this campaign, including major names such as Björk, Paramore, and Lorde.
Previous successes. Strategic BDS pressure has also worked against Live Nation before. Last year, artist and fan boycotts led the controversial bank Barclays to stop sponsoring Live Nation festivals in the United Kingdom. And over the past decade, artists including Beyoncé and Shakira cancelled previously announced shows in Israel — concerts that had been organised by Bluestone/Live Nation Israel.
Live Nation must finally take responsibility for the damage that PACBI says its years of artwashing have caused.
There must be no platform for genocide or apartheid.
This text is an adaptation for the Dutch context of the call by PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) to apply pressure on Live Nation. The factual claims and standpoint are those of the campaign itself.