Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento

But I think...

they're trying to use them to the best of their ability because at the end of the day, they do change people's careers.

I mean, Jesse Wells, you know, started making these videos on TikTok and now he's nominated for four Grammys and he's an independent artist.

Like it really can sort of put you in front of an audience that would never have access to you otherwise.

But there is a trade-off.

Like you're absolutely right.

I think it's a very complicated thing and it seems like the artists themselves are sort of trying to walk the balance between the ethics of it and then also having this huge tool at their disposal to get their message out.

I mean, honestly, I think it shows that a lot of people want to feel heard right now.

And a lot of people are looking for a sense of community.

Like Tammy Kernodle kept describing this to me, like these folk protest artists on TikTok and the audiences they're finding as digital communities.

And, you know, it shows that a lot of people are frustrated by the same things.

But I think something that we have yet to see is how much that raising consciousness of this era of protest music really translates into pushing for social change.

I think that's been a key factor of protest music in the past, like when we were talking about the 60s, the 70s.

Those were times when the music was really used to mobilize people to actually get outside and protest and march and rally and demand change in a material way.

And I think that's a lot harder to do when...

You have these massive numbers, but it's all people independently behind their screens, right?

So I think what we have yet to see is, like, how is that power going to translate to something tangible in the world?

Or maybe it also opens up to, like, there's just digital kinds of activism that people are doing now.

I don't know.

But that's sort of the question that I keep coming back to.