Press
Photo of Adam, Chuck D and Erin Potts during the press conference, New York, 1997 by Danny Clinch
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Perry Serpa/Vicious Kid Public Relations
917 660-4137
FREEDOM NEEDS A SOUNDTRACK
NEW NARRATIVE PODCAST REVISITING THE TIBETAN FREEDOM CONCERTS AND THEIR LASTING IMPACT LAUNCHES JUNE 15, 2026 FOR THE CONCERTS’ 30th ANNIVERSARY
SIX-EPISODE SERIES TO BE RELEASED WEEKLY FEATURING VOICES AND STORIES AROUND THE NOW LEGENDARY CONCERT EVENTS
April 24, 2026 — Thirty years after the first Tibetan Freedom Concert helped turn music into a force for activism on a massive scale, Freedom Needs a Soundtrack launches June 15, 2026. The six-episode narrative podcast revisits the concerts’ origins, impact, and legacy through archival material and firsthand accounts from the artists, organizers, and activists who shaped them, anchored by Erin Potts’ journey from teenage music fan to activist and co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. It tells the story of how an unlikely group of musicians, young organizers, and Tibetan activists brought Tibet’s nonviolent struggle for freedom to a much larger stage, and considers what that legacy offers now.
At the center of the concerts was the Milarepa Fund, a nonprofit founded in 1994 by Erin Potts and Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, who met in Nepal and soon began working together for Tibet. When Yauch asked Potts to help direct royalties from Beastie Boys tracks that incorporated Tibetan monastic chants, they created the Milarepa Fund as a vehicle for that work and also began building awareness around Tibet through music and touring, first through Lollapalooza ’94 and Beastie Boys tours, and later through the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.
“I was a music fan before I was an activist, and this series tells the story of how those two parts of my life came together through my work for Tibet, and how meeting Adam changed everything,” said Potts. “Adam didn’t just perform at the concerts. He threw himself into every part of the work, from conferences to workshops to organizing. Together with a small group of friends, we turned that shared love, commitment, and a lot of humor into the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.”
The Tibetan Freedom Concerts helped grow support for Tibet and the Tibetan people’s fight for freedom. Since 1959, Tibetans have resisted Chinese occupation at great cost. Their struggle continues to offer a powerful example of nonviolent resistance in an increasingly violent world.
“For Tibetans, the concerts were never just a music story or a fundraiser,” said Deyden Tethong, a Tibetan human rights advocate who worked on the Concerts and is an executive producer of this series. “They helped grow the Tibetan movement, brought new people into it, helped free dozens of political prisoners, and gave many of us a sense that we were not fighting alone. What has become increasingly clear is that our fight for freedom is not only ours. It is part of a global struggle for freedom that more and more people can now see themselves in.”
The concerts began in San Francisco in June 1996, followed by events in New York and Washington, D.C., before expanding internationally in 1999 with shows in East Troy, Wisconsin, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Tokyo. They were among the largest music events of the 1990s, drawing more than 325,000 people and reaching millions more through T.V. and radio broadcasts and early online streaming. Performers included U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, R.E.M., Radiohead, Björk, The Fugees, Rage Against the Machine, John Lee Hooker, A Tribe Called Quest, Buddy Guy, Foo Fighters, and the Beastie Boys, amongst many others, alongside Tibetan artists such as Chaksam-pa, Nawang Khechog, and Dadon.
Made possible by contributions from hundreds of supporters, Freedom Needs a Soundtrack will stay true to the original concerts and be released without ads, with net proceeds from merchandise and related activities benefiting Students for a Free Tibet and Tibet Action Institute.
Produced by Adonde Media and distributed in partnership with KALW Public Radio in San Francisco, the series will also be adapted for radio broadcast. KALW will air the series and distribute the broadcast version free of charge to public radio stations nationwide via PRX, expanding the reach of the series beyond podcast audiences and into public media.
“The first three Tibetan Freedom Concerts were all held in public parks and spaces, so it was really important to us to have public partners for this series, too,” Potts said.
Advance materials for Freedom Needs a Soundtrack, including episode descriptions, select images, and interview opportunities with executive producers Erin Potts and Deyden Tethong, are now available to members of the press.
About Freedom Needs a Soundtrack
Through first-person stories, archival audio, and immersive sound design, Freedom Needs a Soundtrack is a narrative podcast that marks the 30th anniversary of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts by tracing how Erin Potts, who co-founded them with Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys, and a small team of twenty-somethings built one of the largest concert series of the 1990s. Across six episodes, it tells the story of how the concerts began, what they changed, and what their legacy offers now, at a moment when freedom and hope feel especially urgent. The series launches June 15 on podcast platforms everywhere, with new episodes dropping weekly. Net proceeds from merchandise and related activities will benefit Students for a Free Tibet and Tibet Action Institute. Freedom Needs a Soundtrack is a Rangzen, LLC production, produced by Adonde Media and distributed in partnership with KALW Public Media in San Francisco.
For more information, please visit: https://www.freedomneedsasoundtrack.com/
And for media inquiries or assets, please contact: Perry Serpa/Vicious Kid Public Relations; perry@viciouskidpr.com; 917 660-4137
About the Partners
Adonde Media is a multicultural audio storytelling company based in Los Angeles that has worked with global companies, public media and more to tell true stories that traverse borders of language, culture, and geography.
KALW Public Media is not just a radio station — it’s an experiment in what public media should be. Based in the Bay Area, KALW serves as a catalyst for civic engagement, a home for groundbreaking storytelling, and a training ground for the next generation of media-makers.
Students For A Free Tibet works in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence. As a global, chapter-based network of young activists, SFT campaigns for Tibetans’ right to political freedom through education, grassroots organizing, and nonviolent direct action - and was a key partner during the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, where the first show helped catalyze a surge in new chapters and global growth.
Tibet Action Institute combines the power of digital communication with strategic nonviolent action to advance the Tibetan freedom movement. We bring together expert campaigners, strategists, and technologists to develop and implement visionary strategies and innovative training, education, and technology programs, equipping Tibetans with the tools and knowledge to achieve human rights and freedom in Tibet.
Shift Collective is the fiscal sponsor and story collection and archive partner for Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
Tibetan Freedom Concert, June 15-16, 1996, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.