Arcade Fire – After frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual assault, certain North American radio stations have pulled Arcade Fire’s songs.
Arcade Fire
At least three Canadian radio stations have issued statements announcing their choice not to play the music of the Canadian rock band.
Ian March, program director of Toronto music station Indie88, acknowledged to CBC News that the station took “a rapid decision over the weekend to pull the band’s music,” though there has been no internal discussion about whether the decision will be permanent.
“In light of the recent allegations against Win Butler, CBC Music will halt playing Arcade Fire’s music until we hear more about the issue,” CBC Music’s Chuck Thompson explained.
According to Ottawa City News and CBC News, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will “halt” playing Arcade Fire’s songs on its CBC Music FM channel and SiriusXM CBC Radio 3 service “until we learn more about the matter.”
Meanwhile, a radio personality in St. Paul, Minnesota, told CBC News that he has been tracking radio stations in the United States that are also playing the band’s songs – even if they aren’t openly advertising it.
According to radio personality Bill Childs, at least six of the stations that typically play Arcade Fire stopped by sometime Tuesday.
Childs stated, “I’m always fascinated as to how radio stations behave when their primary musicians are involved in allegations of any kind.”
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On Saturday, Pitchfork published a story containing four allegations of sexual assault against Butler, 42.
One of the claimants, who uses they/them pronouns, alleged that the lead singer sexually attacked them twice in 2015 when they were 21 years old. According to the other three accusations, the age difference and “power dynamics” between them and the singer were allegedly inappropriate.
According to Pitchfork, the alleged wrongdoing occurred between 2016 and 2020 when the women were between the ages of 18 and 23, and Butler was between the ages of 36 and 39.
Butler has denied any wrongdoing and argues that all interactions were mutual.
The complaints and choices to remove Arcade Fire’s songs from the radio coincided with the start of their world tour. It began on Tuesday in Dublin, with Feist and Beck opening the show.
