Spotify pulled more than three dozen artists and bands from the streaming music service after they were identified as supporting ideas of white supremacy in a post on a music news site.
The post, published Monday on DigitalMusicNews.com, identified dozens of musicians and groups on the streaming music platform that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) had named "hate bands" in a 2014 list.
According to Digital Music News, the SPLC compiled the list in an effort to urge Apple to remove the bands’ music from its platform.
The music news site found at least eight other related bands on Spotify with help from its algorithm for recommended music and artists.
“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,” Digital Music News writer Paul Resnikoff wrote in an effort to call attention to Spotify’s musical offering.
Less than 24 hours after the article was published, Spotify scrapped the music from its platform.
"Illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us," a Spotify spokesperson said. "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 ... whilst urgently reviewing the remainder."
According to CNN, Spotify uses government lists of offensive music and bands to help police its platform.
The streaming service said it would review any content "that is in clear violation of (Spotify's) internal guidelines which includes content that clearly incites hatred or violence," CNN reported.
Read more at DigitalMusicNews.com, CNN and Billboard.
About the Author
