Music has long been a medium for the transition of emotion into art. With the growth of the music industry, distribution entered the mix.
Emotion, however, includes both the positive and the negative. For anti-Semites, this has been only another addition to their hateful pallet.
What is called “white power music,” or Nazi punk, has served as a bond for racist skinheads both in the United States and abroad.
Their names alone—Jew Slaughter, Angry Aryans, SS Bootboys and others—illustrate their anti-Semitic ideology. With over a thousand bands, they boast an international presence in linguistically diverse countries.
Lyrically, the music directs hate toward Jews and non-whites for societies problems. Below is an excerpt from a song called “Third Reich” by RaHoWa:
RaHoWa - Third Reich
Kill all the niggers and you gas all the Jews
Kill a gypsy and a colored too
You just killed a kike
Don't it feel right
Goodness gracious, darn right.
Born out of a marginalized skinhead and punk subculture, white power music began in Great Britain in the mid-1970s. In 1978 their presence grew when the British white nationalist National Front’s punk-oriented youth group “Punk Front” recruited English punks and created several white power punk bands to spread their message.
By the mid-1980s white power music penetrated the United States and created a significant presence amid a growing hardcore punk scene.
According to the ADL, the white power music industry today “has evolved into a well-marketed tool to tap into alienated and often violent youth in the United States, Europe and other countries.”
While most white power bands have not reached the mainstream, hate music is a growing industry. Resistance Records, the leading distributor of skinhead music in the United States, reportedly ships an average of fifty orders daily, each valuing approximately $70. Collectively, Resistance Record’s revenues exceed $1 million annually.
In addition to the distribution of music, hate rock concerts have also served as a tool for white power music. The ADL estimates such concerts draw hundreds of people in the United States and almost 2,000 in Germany.
The next frontier for white power music is undoubtedly the Internet. By simplifying the process of audio and video sharing, white power bands are able to distribute their anti-Semitic messages quicker, cheaper, and to a wider audience. This will only amplify the already expanding hate music industry.
