A recent report from Digital Music News highlighted 37 bands streaming on Spotify that also appeared the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of hate bands. The post followed the weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia and became the latest example at how hate had seemingly found a comfortable place in daily life. Luckily Spotify took notice of the report and proceeded to start removing the listed bands from the service, joining a long list of services that are starting to look at how certain groups benefit from them. According a statement delivered to Billboard, “illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated” by Spotify:
“Spotify takes immediate action to remove any such material as soon as it has been brought to our attention. We are glad to have been alerted to this content – and have already removed many of the bands identified today, whilst urgently reviewing the remainder”
The statement notes that Spotify pulls music from “thousands of record companies and aggregators” from around the world, but the service is looking at how they can block similar content from being added in the future. According to Paul Resnikoff at Digital Music News, the ease at finding “hate-oriented groups” and the events in Virginia are what prompted the report:
Most of these groups are fringe, with relatively small followings and listen counts. Once upon a time, that sounded just like the neo-nazi, white nationalist movement itself in the US and other countries. But in the wake of violent clashes in Charlottesville and an increasingly vocal, post-Trump white supremacy voice, the presence of white supremacy music on Spotify takes on a different light.
Spotify has also countered these groups by presenting a new playlist titled “Patriotic Passion,” featuring music that Spotify claims is “a soundtrack to an America worth fighting for.”
(Via Digital Music News / Billboard)
