Protest or Publicity: Canadian radio station plays Rage Against the Machine song nonstop

Vancouver: Listeners of a pop and soft rock station in Vancouver, Canada, were left confused on Wednesday morning as the radio station began playing the song ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine.

The song kept on playing in a loop for hours. By midday, the song had played hundreds of times on Kiss Radio 104.9 FM. Listeners begin to speculate and discuss online that the singular choice was a protest against layoffs by parent company Rogers Sports and Media.

However, some industry experts differ to say that it was a protest but believe it was more of a publicity stunt to signal a format change at the station to alternative rock.

The incident came a day after the co-hosts of the station’s morning show posted on Facebook that they had suddenly been fired.

“Our five years on KiSS RADiO has come to an end. KiSS is changing and unfortunately, we were informed that we won’t be part of this new chapter. Although this comes with mixed emotions, we want to express one overwhelming feeling: gratitude,” wrote ex-hosts Kevin Lim and Sonia Sidhu.

On Wednesday, callers’ attempts to request anything besides Killing in the Name were denied.

Between requests, the song looped several times with no discernible beginning or end. Rather, it was just one long version of Killing in the Name.

A call to the radio studio did not yield clarity.

The song’s lyrics include the repeated line: “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!”. The station, however, played the sanitised radio edit.

Parvasi Media Group