Music and Far-Right Extremism Online (MuREX)

Music has historically been used by the far-right to spread political messaging, finance political activities and recruit members. Despite declining attendance to physical events, radical-right music has grown significantly online.

There is also some evidence that the music styles associated with the far-right have changed considerably over the last ten years.

However, it is currently unclear as to the extent of music’s reach, what appeals to listeners, what music is being used by the far-right and how digital technologies have influenced these trends.MuREX’s aim is to analyse how digitalisation has shaped the way music interacts with the contemporary far-right with a focus on reception.

In order to do this, it will undertake a mixed-methods, “netnographic” study, involving big data, in 3 stages.

Stage 1 will quantitatively explore which music is discussed, spread and valued amongst those using English and Swedish-language radical-right forums, websites and video streaming platforms. Stage 2 will qualitatively explore how discourses around musical value and quality are expressed by listeners.

Stage 3 will document how the visual, textual and musical elements of artists identified at Stages 1 and 2 support political messaging. Through this, it will provide the most systematic survey of far-right music ever done.

It will also be the first study to explore how digital technologies have impacted on interaction with and aesthetics of music within the far-right.