Spotify has pulled a number of bands classified as “hate music” from its catalog today, after an article in Digital Music News brought them to the company’s attention. The DMN article took as its primary source a three-year-old article, “Music, Money, And Hate,” from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which identified a number of music groups on various streaming services and marketplaces—most notably iTunes, which removed most of the bands from its own rolls at the time.
Although most music on Spotify and Amazon comes from major labels, there are plenty of smaller industry entities that exist largely to license little-known music to the service. Spotify has stated that the content of music it streams is ultimately the responsibility of the first-parties who offer it up, but said that it removes flagged material whenever it’s brought to the company’s attention.
The DMN article notes that it was surprisingly easy to find more white supremacist-themed music on Spotify, thanks to the service’s recommendation feature helpfully suggesting new bands like “Hate Forest” and “Endless Pride” to listeners of the already listed stuff. The company has said it’s working to block flagged music from popping up as recommendations, and is currently either removing or reviewing all of the artists that have been brought to its attention.