Streaming platforms have become a way for artists to make their voices heard
Yanking your catalog off Spotify speaks louder than a press release
Stream of conscience
Neil Young is not the first musical artist demanding change from the streaming giant.
Spotify and other music streaming platforms have become a battleground where artists can leverage their power, notably over disputes concerning artists’ revenues and the value of music in an era of streaming.
In 2015,Taylor Swift briefly removed her album 1989from Apple Music due to the platform offering a three month free trial that would not generate royalties for artists.
In 2021, the artist payout debate was reignited after the publication of aParliamentary report in the UKcalling attention to Spotify’s handling of artists’ rights management, revenue rates, and commercial fairness.
Recently, following the release of her latest album 30,Adele took aim at Spotifydemanding the shuffle feature be removed from albums encouraging users to listen to the tracks in their intended order.
Self-regulation
Spotify has taken action to regulate harmful content on its service in the past. In 2017, Spotifyannounced it would remove contentfrom bands connected to white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements.
Spotify also joined several other social media and streaming platforms including Facebook, Apple Music and podcast platform Stitcher to remove thepolemical right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jonesand his podcast InfoWars for spreading misinformation and lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.
In 2018, Spotify addeda new hate conduct policyto its terms of use that included guidelines for removing music that “promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence.” Spotify developed the policy in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. The platform faced immediate backlash when itcited the policy to defendremoving American artists R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from its editorial and algorithmically curated playlists. The two artists’ catalogues were not removed from Spotify’s streaming library, but would be far less visible to listeners.
Critics viewed Spotify’s use of the policy an attempt to censor music. With such a sweeping definition of hate conduct, some observers wondered, why were R. Kelly and XXXTentacion removed and not the dozens, if not hundreds, of other artists with controversial pasts or criminal convictions?
The move prompted other prominent artists, most notably Kendrick Lamar, to threatenwithdrawing their music from Spotifyentirely. Shortly afterwards, Spotify rolled back the policy. In acorporate statementannouncing the shift, Spotify also minimized its responsibility in political matters or public controversies: “That’s not what Spotify is about. We don’t aim to play judge and jury.”
Digital platforms have taken steps to moderate misinformation. For example, in the lead up to the 2020 US election, Twitter beganadding fact-check labelsto tweets shared by former president Donald Trump. Later that year, Facebook’s Oversight Boardbegan hearing casesto oversee key decisions related to content moderation.
Throughout the COVID pandemic, academics and public health officialshave called on social media platformsto help fight the spread of dangerous health-related misinformation.
Policing platforms
Reliance on platforms to moderate podcast content is a tenuous proposition. As commercial entities operating internationally, platforms simultaneously seek to serve their corporate interests and comply with regulations and laws in multiple jurisdictions.
Significant change can be achieved when platforms act in unison, such as inthe decision to ban political advertisingimplemented by several major digital platforms including Spotify after facing significant public pressure. Still, users and advocates should not hold their breath waiting for platforms to do the right thing.
Failures to moderate harmful content are harder to ignore when they involve bigger name artists. Neil Young has never shied away from political action in a musical career spanning nearly six decades. The singer’s demands were bolstered by a credible threat: he’s removed his music before and now he’s done it again.
Ideally, the pressure from Young’s fans and other prominent artists will push Spotify to take effective action against misinformation so users can spend time rockin’ in the free world instead of listening to COVID conspiracy theories.
This article byD. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye, Lecturer,Queensland University of Technology, is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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