Mike Benz: Lyor Cohen & YouTube Gives Preference to Music Artists Picked By The State Dept. (Part 4)

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Mike Benz exposes the cozy relationship between corporate tech giants and U.S. government diplomacy. Benz explains that during his tenure at the State Department, he witnessed firsthand how the U.S. diplomatic apparatus functions as a “big daddy muscle,” brokering favors to protect American tech interests like Google from unfavorable international regulations. A key example is Google’s efforts to influence European digital laws that threatened its ad revenues.

Benz also sheds light on an intriguing partnership between YouTube’s head of music, Lyor Cohen, and the State Department’s global music diplomacy program—jointly announced by Cohen and Secretary of State Tony Blinken. This initiative strategically promotes select artists chosen by the government to further U.S. soft power abroad. Rooted in a century-old tradition of “music diplomacy,” the program aligns statecraft with the music industry, intertwining cultural influence with economic and geopolitical agendas.