This chapter explores the relevance of the protest song as political communication in the
Internet era. Focusing on the prolific and diverse YouTube music video output of the Gezi
Park protest of 2013, we explore how digital technologies and social media offer new
opportunities for protest music to be produced and reach new audiences. We argue that the
affordances of digital media and Internet platforms such as YouTube play a crucial part in
the production, distribution and consumption of protest music. In the music videos, collected …

Today music is an established part of political communication. 1 Yet, music is often
marginalized in the theorization of politics. The use of music is one of the ways social
movements 'gain a hearing to serve as vehicles of cultural change'2 and among other
cultural products, music 'facilitate [s] the recruitment and socialization of new adherents and
help movements maintain their readiness and capacity for collective action'. 3 Music is an
increasingly pivotal part of political communication across many political spheres, from …