As a musician, life is driven by creation. An idea is sparked and a great degree of time and energy are spent to form the perfect reflection of that idea. Music is a shared thing – heart and soul gets poured into a song, hoping to capture the heart and soul of an audience. Music is a personal thing – a reflection of one’s emotion. A feeling that can’t quite be put into words can be shared through a melody. Music has also been known to help cure, becoming a form of therapy. There is something magical in music that can take your mind and body, a warming calm mixed with thrill shivers envelops the listener. But what happens when a song intended to help is used to hurt? When therapy becomes torture? When those intentions of comfort are flipped and turned into a means of no escape?

Since the end of the 1970’s, music has been used as a form of torture. Ear splitting decibels of sound are being blasted for weeks to months on end. While some may argue this is a “light” method of torture, the mental anguish this causes is almost incomparable, driving a person to near complete insanity. Throughout this so-called ‘war on terror’, music torture has grown in popularity in the secret CIA-run facilities as well as high profile military prisons. Although President Obama has taken steps to the closure of such secret prisons and made strong statements against the use of torture, over 20,000 prisoners are being held in prisons not mentioned in the executive orders and no mention of music torture has been made.

A ‘silent protest’ has been started against music torture by zero dB, a website started by Reprieve (a legal charity organization for human rights) and supported by the Musicians Union. Artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Elbow, Massive Attack and Doves (to name a few) have taken part by uploading soundless video clips as a petition to silence. In a statement, Reprieve’s director Clive Stafford Smith urged others to take part, saying “Torture should have been left in the Middle Ages; yet it rears its head in new forms. Music torture tears people apart mentally – as much as any razorblade. I encourage everyone to join our silent protest against the use of music torture.”

As the zero dB website states “It’s (music torture) continuing use is not only a violation of the human rights of prisoners, but also of the rights of musicians who have had their music used.”

I, for one, am signing this petition to abolish using music as torture and strongly urge everyone to do the same. Help keep this a form of art and and not a means to destruct.

Click here for the zero dB website.

Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden – Bonkers
Massive Attack Feat. Terry Callier – Live With Me

Related posts:

1. An Open Call to Aspiring Musicians (Highways To Fairways) In addition to my six figure contract with AW Music...
2. Protest The Hero @ The Mod Club December 13th We knew from the moment they walked out it was...
3. PoZitive Orchestra – Recycle Music Review Ok, so this is a little off the beaten track...
4. Story of the Year – “I’m Alive” Music Video & MP3 What is there to say about Story of the Year?...