One of the first things on President Obama’s agenda after taking office was to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It has yet to happen, but it will, and the music industry is working to see that it does, and soon. But first, they want to know which music was being piped into the cells of suspected terrorists. Is it vanity? Is it because they’re looking for their royalties, as many musicians are doing to Ellen DeGeneres now? Is it a genuine concern for human rights? A statement from legendary peace-promoters REM says, “…To now learn that some of our friends’ music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge, is horrific.”
I wouldn't use his music without permission.
What is widely known is that certain music was played at obnoxious volumes during the interrogations of ‘uncooperative’ detainees during the Bush Administration’s famous waterboarding-stripping-hooding- humiliation rampage at the facility. 20 declassified documents have revealed that “loud” music was used to “create futility”. Those Bushies certainly did know how to spin a few words to make “tormented” sound like something more akin to “kinda annoyed”. That’s like Jon Gosselin telling Nancy Grace that his earrings aren’t ‘diamonds’, but rather ‘cubic zirconia’. Uh-huh.
Some of the artists whose music was illegally used include Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Eminem, The Bee Gees, Britney Spears, and Bruce Springsteen.
Metallica and NIN? For a lot of people, Metallica and Nine Inch Nails at eardrum-splitting volume is just another Saturday night. That’s a party, not torture. Give frat boys enough alcohol and Rage Against The Machine and they’ll waterboard each other for fun.
That’s not to say that torture is funny. But the use of Britney Spears’ irritating squeal for 72 hours straight would make me tell my deepest, darkest secrets. Artists are demanding to have all of the documents relating to the use of music as an interrogation device released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Among the bands leading the charge to declassify documents and close down GITMO are Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Rise Against, Billy Bragg, The Roots, Jackson Browne, Pearl Jam, and REM. An official filing will come from the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo (NCCG).
To clarify: the NCCG will file the FOIA request to close GITMO by notifying the DOD, DOA, DIA, FCC, FBI, CIA, and DOJ (among others). If REM and NIN hadn’t signed on, the acronym-fest would simply not have been complete.
When the documents are released—and they will be—that’s when the fur will really start to fly. Not even the government can use music without the consent of the artist. When a President chooses the song that will be his campaign ‘fight song’, the musicians must first agree to it. There has been controversy over just that during the McCain campaign.
W. knew he was on his way out, anyway. Someone else will pay the price, and it will be hefty.