Spotify, Apple Music and more hosting “racist” music, says BBC investigation

The streaming services have since taken various measures to remove the content from their platforms

Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Deezer are among streaming services found to be hosting “racist” music on their platforms, according to a new BBC investigation.Included in the material found through the investigation are a speech from Hitler, music promoting white power and more.

As the BBC report, the four streaming services named have all “removed racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic content from their services” following the investigation.

The report adds that Spotify admit that the content violated their hate content policy which was updated in mid-2018. YouTube, meanwhile, responded saying that there was “no place for hate on its platform,” with Apple Music hiding a majority of the tracks brought to their attention by the investigation.

Examples of the music found in the investigation include songs glorifying “Aryan nations,” bands celebrating the Holocaust and playlists curated with the title National Socialist Black Metal.

Spotify
Spotify. CREDIT: Chesnot/Getty Images

Speaking to the BBC, civil rights strategist Eric Ward said that people didn’t use their trusted streaming services “to be presented with hate music and hate lyrics”.

He added: “The onus is on streaming platforms to do a better job at monitoring and searching for this music. They simply need to invest more.

“This is about the credibility of a company and a brand. Brands are important and white power music will damage your streaming brand.”

Back in 2017, Spotify removed a number of white supremacist bands from its service after being discovered by users. R Kelly’s music was also removed from Spotify playlists in 2018 amid sexual misconduct allegations against the singer.

Kendrick Lamar also reportedly threatened to remove his music from Spotify due to his dislike for the streaming service’s Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy, which saw Kelly and late rapper XXXTentacion’s music removed from the service.

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