Spotify Follows Apple In Removing White Supremacist Bands From Its Platform
The music business is known for its open-minded diversity and acceptance of many different forms of expression and bizarre behavior from its artist. But, one thing that will not be tolerated in the music industry is that hate has no place in music. The video and music streaming platform, Spotify, has made it very clear that white supremacist bands are not welcome on its platform after being alerted to their presence in a week that has seen a wave of individuals and public figures stand up against messages of hate.
“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 in a statement. “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.” On Monday, Digital Music News published a list of 37 hate bands, as classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which its author said were available on Spotify as of publication time. The center shared a list of white supremacist groups in 2014 after discovering many of them were available on iTunes. Apple began pulling the bands within weeks. As of Wednesday, the majority are not available on the U.S. site although many of the groups still appear to be available on Spotify. Makes you wonder what took Spotify so long to take action or would have at all if not for public outcry?
The streaming giant has been quoted as saying that “hundreds of thousands of record labels and aggregators contribute music to its catalog and views them as being primarily responsible for the content on its platform.” Spotify does promise it will take “immediate action” against any tracks that violate its policies, once brought to light from this point on. While it continues to review these hateful tracks, to the company’s credit, it has added an opposite point of view playlist of its own. Titled “Patriotic Passion,” the list features songs by Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and others whose lyrics they hope will help people remember what “upholding American values” sound like.
Hateful Content Is Now Finally Being Exposed On All Visual And Audio Media
Susan Z’s Conclusion:
It is a sad truth that it always seems that death of an innocent (Heather Heyer, 32 of road rage at the Charlottesville white supremacist rally) seems to be the spark of awareness. It shows how many neutral blind eyes and uninformed “racists” are still claiming to not know this level of hate exists. Now they do.
Two of Pentacles: Fluctuation ups and downs of getting a job done. This may represent the drama it takes for people to finally start rolling up their sleeves and get to work helping to resolve this issue that has been around since America was created to be a union of diverse people wanting to live in a country that offered freedom, liberty and justice for ALL!
Five of Wands: Inverted (Upside Down)
Arguments within and outside of self. This is the foundation of these hate groups, constant fighting with those that are not “like them”. We are now seeing a movement to not accept this behavior under any circumstances of free speech.
The Fool: Inverted
Trust, faith and optimism of an outcome. Since pulled inverted, it shows the general malaise of this “white is better than anyone” else attitude and everyone else is the enemy might not ever go away. Unfortunately, history supports that very notion. Always someone is targeted to be the enemy.
Susan Z Rich is an emotional addiction counselor, spiritual intuitive and holistic therapist. She counsels others to see life in a more positive way and teaches personal accountability for life choices. She is also the author of several children’s books and Soul Windows…Secrets From The Divine.