Following days of reconciling coming via statements from public figures and the actions of municipalities that have ordered the removal of Confederate monuments in the wake of the racist violence that struck Charlottesville, VA last weekend, a purge of white supremacist content is taking root in the music industry. On Wednesday, August 16, Spotify moved to begin taking hate bands with white supremacist leanings down from its service.
The move comes in response to an article published by Digital Music News earlier this week, that identified dozens of groups that violate its policy stating, "Illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us." The article, titled "I Just Found 37 Hate Bands On Spotify," signifies a push for the replication of actions taken in 2014, when iTunes was challenged to remove racist music thanks to a campaign organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center. However, as the industry has shifted from downloads to streaming, those groups have been able to repivot on platforms like Spotify.
By Thursday morning the streaming service confirmed that it had already taken action to identify and do away with such music, stating, "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, while urgently reviewing the remainder."
Source: hotnewhiphop.com
