Spotify is taking action to remove music and artists linked to white supremacy after a music news website drew attention to the extremist bands it found on the music-streaming service.
Digital Music News earlier this week listed 37 white supremacist bands that a reporter had found on Spotify. Some of these white-power bands were pulled from iTunes in 2014 after a campaign by the Southern Poverty Law Center, but now seem to be taking advantage of the industry’s switch to streaming services.
Spotify responded within 48 hours to say that it had already removed some of the music from its service and was quickly working to review the rest, according to BBC Newsbeat.
The company said in an official statement: “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.”
It gave a second statement to Billboard magazine to outline its stance on extremist music: “Illegal content or material that favours hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us.”
Last weekend, 32-year-old Heather Heyer died and 20 people were injured when a white supremacist drove his car into anti-fascist protesters in Charlottesville.