Other laws, including religious freedom-laws, have elicited similar protests. After George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder charges in the death of Trayvon Martin, Stevie Wonder promised not to perform in Florida or any other state with a stand-your-ground law. A wide range of musical acts announced plans to boycott Arizona after it passed an extremely strict immigration law in 2010. In 2015, Wilco canceled a show in Indianapolis after Indiana passed a religious-freedom law. The results are mixed. There haven’t been any stand-your-ground repeals. Arizona’s law stands on the books, though several provisions were struck down by the Supreme Court. But Indiana substantially reversed course after backlash, and Wilco went ahead with its show.

What these examples show is that simply canceling a concert is unlikely to ever bring about a policy change on its own. No musician, not even Bruce Springsteen, is powerful enough to do that. (Springsteen couldn’t even sway New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie, on policy issues, even though Christie is an avowed fanboy.) Instead, they tend to function as part of a publicity push, adding their weight to efforts by business groups, corporations, and activists. In North Carolina, Paypal, Deutsche Bank, and others have announced plans to freeze job expansions, while—in a presumably more symbolic move—the porn site XHamster announced it would block IP addresses in the Tar Heel State. (Your correspondent has not explored whether the block is functional.)

But what are the mechanics of a musician boycott? Take the Springsteen case. The songwriter is one of the more politically outspoken progressives in the rock scene, so his stance on HB2 wasn’t really a surprise. Calculating the economic impact of the cancelation, however, is tough. The Greensboro Coliseum estimated it would lose $100,000, and people who would have been working that night didn’t make any money from it. The city’s mayor said she wasn’t sure how large the economic ripple effects might be.

One complaint in North Carolina has been that Springsteen’s boycott is punishing his own fans, who—according to this argument—are likely to oppose HB2 in the first place. The claim is debatable. As Christie’s fandom shows, there are plenty of conservatives who love Springsteen’s brand of everyman heartland rock. (For a 2004 concert in Cleveland supporting John Kerry’s presidential run, a chunk of Bush-backing Boss buffs bought tickets anyway and simply held up signs or yelled for Springsteen to lay off the politics and play the hits.) In any case, boycotts like this are more symbolic than punitive in purpose.

Nonetheless, a progressive group called “NC Needs You” has sprung up to argue against boycotts like Springsteen’s, arguing that engagement is more politically effective. The coalition writes:

Here’s how to help: Don’t cancel your show because of the bigoted policies of a few wrongheaded lawmakers and our governor. Instead, play the shows. Use the stage as a platform to make a statement. And donate any—or, better yet, all—profits to a coalition of nonprofits, lobbying groups, and grassroots organizations doing on-the-ground work to take North Carolina back. (We understand that times are tight for bands, so no pressure here.)

Comedian Joel McHale performed in Durham on Saturday and followed NC Needs You’s lead, donating his proceeds to the LGBTQ Center of Durham.