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I have grown increasingly disgusted with Spotify pushing a political agenda inside their app. The last place I want to have politics shoved in my face is my mus

I have grown increasingly disgusted with Spotify pushing a political agenda inside their app. The last place I want to have politics shoved in my face is my music streaming service, whether I agree with the stance or not. Yet it seems, at least once a month, the banner of the desktop app is decidedly pushing a playlist promoting one side of the political agenda du jour. With them recently banning the personal playlist of a conservative Australian senator, simply because they don't agree with his politics[0], I'm about ready to jump ship. [0] - https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/spotify-bans-cory-bernardis-australia-day-playlist-ng-b88718551z https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/spotify-ban...

chrisgd 9y ago
This article says that several musicians did not want to be included. Seems spotify catered to them, rather than banning based on political viewpoint.
- fortythirteen 9y ago
  Because several artists didn't want to be included, instead of removing those artists, they banned his whole playlist? Edit: Based on the litany of left-wing politics that Spotify brazenly pushes in their app, I'd be surprised if they would take the same side if the sides were reversed between artist and politician. This only bolsters my original statement of why I'm getting tired of Spotify's politics.
vr46 9y ago
It looks like the senator breached terms and conditions by trying to use songs to promote HIS agenda and the artists objected, and Spotify doesn't allow that anyway, so canned his playlist.
- fortythirteen 9y ago
  So if I make a playlist and then Tweet about it, and some content curator at Spotify doesn't like me, they're going to delete my playlist? Notice I didn't say that don't have the right to do what they want with their business, it's just a crappy move. I wonder if Christian or Muslim artists asked that their music not be on a LGBT figure's playlist, if Spotify would ban the whole playlist, like they did here.
  - vr46 9y ago
    Steady on: firstly, this is not average Joe or Josephine here, it's a politician using Artists on Spotify and their music to make a political stunt, so it's not like Spotify have politicized anything. Secondly, the artists themselves complained about it, and somebody reported the issue to Spotify. Using musicians to promote an agenda they disagree with is hardly an innocent act when a politician does it. FWIW, Spotify have denied deleting the playlist, so this may well be more publicity-seeking behaviour from the politician in question. The truth appears to be buried somewhat, but it doesn't look as bad as you suggest for Spotify...
    - fortythirteen 9y ago
      It's definitely a he said/she said situation, but it's between two very politically active entities. Spotify still has an anti-travel ban playlist in their browse section after almost a year. It's their business and they can do what they want, but they are in no way coming from a politically neutral standpoint.
      - vr46 9y ago
        Everything is political. I can't see many if any playlists in my Spotify, so I can't see the playlist you mentioned, but given that the travel ban (legally dubious) affected musicians wanting to travel to the US, it's not entirely irrelevant. It's probably a good position to take if you want to appeal to your audience in Spotify's case. Not that I can be bothered to look, but there's surely playlists against gun control (starring Ted Nugent) and the like? I was originally quite surprised to see comments suggesting that Spotify was very political, because I've never considered that myself in ten years and I still can't see after trawling all over my Spotify account - there's literally nothing I can see that's overly political, except the politics section of the podcasts. Obviously it's tailored to me, but I really can't find anything. I would probably more offended by Spotify suggesting I like the Spice Girls or Justin Bieber than anything else, TBH.
        fortythirteen 9y ago
Jonnax 9y ago
"pushing political agenda" "politics shoved in my face" "don't agree with his politics" It's always the same boring meme phrases. I know that having a persecution complex is effective politicking but it comes off immature. I read the article you posted. You should understand that an individual artist is more important to Spotify than an individual user to Spotify. Especially artists like: Men At Work and Savage Garden The playlist was called Australian Conservatives and was a public playlist. If you're advertising it, then it's not personal. Normally if you want music associated with your brand, a company or political party has to pay. And artists have the right to refuse. It looks like Darren Hayes posted this: Hi @CoryBernadi and @AuConservatives. I do not want to be associated with you, your party or your views. Remove my music from this stunt or expect contact from my publisher. Responding like this doesn't really work in the real world: “Get over yourself darrenhayes. Music is for everyone.” Bernardi tweeted.
- fortythirteen 9y ago
  > "pushing political agenda" "politics shoved in my face" "don't agree with his politics" Spotify has company created playlists specifically for the travel ban and DACA, permanently in the Browse section. Yes, they are pushing their agenda in users' faces. Why not just remove the complaining artists? Why remove the entire playlist? Do you believe that if the political roles were reversed between politician and artist that Spotify would nuke the whole playlist? I sure don't. You may agree with Spotify's politics, but that doesn't invalidate my point.
  - Jonnax 9y ago
    There's two things here. Spotify as a company can push whatever politics they want to. It's a business decision, if it loses them users then it's upto their management to determine whether that was a good option or not. You should accept that Spotify is a "liberal" company either as a stance of the management or as who they see their most engaged users to be. Everything doesn't need to appeal to you. Saying they're shoving their politics in your face is hyperbole. If I read a business focussed newspaper, they're likely to have articles that are anti-climate change. I don't agree but I'm in their house. >Why not just remove the complaining artists? Why remove the entire playlist? https://press.spotify.com/uk/about/ https://press.spotify.com/uk/about/ "Number of playlists: Over 2 billion" 2 billion playlists, why expend the manpower to do that? Paying moderators isn't free. >Do you believe that if the political roles were reversed between politician and artist that Spotify would nuke the whole playlist? I sure don't. Why don't you describe an actual hypothetical scenario? That a politician created a playlist called Liberal Music and some artists complained. Saying that they want nothing to do with the politician and their party. Also at least one artist indicated that they'd contact their publisher to take action. Why wouldn't Spotify just take the playlist down? It's the easy action. Playlists are just lists of songs, the songs are still there.

chrisgd 9y ago

This article says that several musicians did not want to be included. Seems spotify catered to them, rather than banning based on political viewpoint.

fortythirteen 9y ago
Because several artists didn't want to be included, instead of removing those artists, they banned his whole playlist? Edit: Based on the litany of left-wing politics that Spotify brazenly pushes in their app, I'd be surprised if they would take the same side if the sides were reversed between artist and politician. This only bolsters my original statement of why I'm getting tired of Spotify's politics.

vr46 9y ago

It looks like the senator breached terms and conditions by trying to use songs to promote HIS agenda and the artists objected, and Spotify doesn't allow that anyway, so canned his playlist.

fortythirteen 9y ago
So if I make a playlist and then Tweet about it, and some content curator at Spotify doesn't like me, they're going to delete my playlist? Notice I didn't say that don't have the right to do what they want with their business, it's just a crappy move. I wonder if Christian or Muslim artists asked that their music not be on a LGBT figure's playlist, if Spotify would ban the whole playlist, like they did here.
- vr46 9y ago
  Steady on: firstly, this is not average Joe or Josephine here, it's a politician using Artists on Spotify and their music to make a political stunt, so it's not like Spotify have politicized anything. Secondly, the artists themselves complained about it, and somebody reported the issue to Spotify. Using musicians to promote an agenda they disagree with is hardly an innocent act when a politician does it. FWIW, Spotify have denied deleting the playlist, so this may well be more publicity-seeking behaviour from the politician in question. The truth appears to be buried somewhat, but it doesn't look as bad as you suggest for Spotify...
  - fortythirteen 9y ago
    It's definitely a he said/she said situation, but it's between two very politically active entities. Spotify still has an anti-travel ban playlist in their browse section after almost a year. It's their business and they can do what they want, but they are in no way coming from a politically neutral standpoint.
    - vr46 9y ago
      Everything is political. I can't see many if any playlists in my Spotify, so I can't see the playlist you mentioned, but given that the travel ban (legally dubious) affected musicians wanting to travel to the US, it's not entirely irrelevant. It's probably a good position to take if you want to appeal to your audience in Spotify's case. Not that I can be bothered to look, but there's surely playlists against gun control (starring Ted Nugent) and the like? I was originally quite surprised to see comments suggesting that Spotify was very political, because I've never considered that myself in ten years and I still can't see after trawling all over my Spotify account - there's literally nothing I can see that's overly political, except the politics section of the podcasts. Obviously it's tailored to me, but I really can't find anything. I would probably more offended by Spotify suggesting I like the Spice Girls or Justin Bieber than anything else, TBH.
      - fortythirteen 9y ago

Jonnax 9y ago

"pushing political agenda" "politics shoved in my face" "don't agree with his politics" It's always the same boring meme phrases. I know that having a persecution complex is effective politicking but it comes off immature. I read the article you posted. You should understand that an individual artist is more important to Spotify than an individual user to Spotify. Especially artists like: Men At Work and Savage Garden The playlist was called Australian Conservatives and was a public playlist. If you're advertising it, then it's not personal. Normally if you want music associated with your brand, a company or political party has to pay. And artists have the right to refuse. It looks like Darren Hayes posted this: Hi @CoryBernadi and @AuConservatives. I do not want to be associated with you, your party or your views. Remove my music from this stunt or expect contact from my publisher. Responding like this doesn't really work in the real world: “Get over yourself darrenhayes. Music is for everyone.” Bernardi tweeted.

fortythirteen 9y ago
> "pushing political agenda" "politics shoved in my face" "don't agree with his politics" Spotify has company created playlists specifically for the travel ban and DACA, permanently in the Browse section. Yes, they are pushing their agenda in users' faces. Why not just remove the complaining artists? Why remove the entire playlist? Do you believe that if the political roles were reversed between politician and artist that Spotify would nuke the whole playlist? I sure don't. You may agree with Spotify's politics, but that doesn't invalidate my point.
- Jonnax 9y ago
  There's two things here. Spotify as a company can push whatever politics they want to. It's a business decision, if it loses them users then it's upto their management to determine whether that was a good option or not. You should accept that Spotify is a "liberal" company either as a stance of the management or as who they see their most engaged users to be. Everything doesn't need to appeal to you. Saying they're shoving their politics in your face is hyperbole. If I read a business focussed newspaper, they're likely to have articles that are anti-climate change. I don't agree but I'm in their house. >Why not just remove the complaining artists? Why remove the entire playlist? https://press.spotify.com/uk/about/ https://press.spotify.com/uk/about/ "Number of playlists: Over 2 billion" 2 billion playlists, why expend the manpower to do that? Paying moderators isn't free. >Do you believe that if the political roles were reversed between politician and artist that Spotify would nuke the whole playlist? I sure don't. Why don't you describe an actual hypothetical scenario? That a politician created a playlist called Liberal Music and some artists complained. Saying that they want nothing to do with the politician and their party. Also at least one artist indicated that they'd contact their publisher to take action. Why wouldn't Spotify just take the playlist down? It's the easy action. Playlists are just lists of songs, the songs are still there.