Are all music art? If so, why do Spotify ban some of the art?

[Mattizz]

Some music is banned on Spotify.

Some music that offends some people.

Isn't it more logical to NOT LISTEN TO THE MUSIC THAT UPSET YOU than to ban other people from listening on what they experience as interesting music?

If I watch a movie (art) I don't like, I shut it off.

I don't go around trying to ban the movie for everyone else.

Some paintings (art) in the museums might offend people. But they will still hang on the walls.

Why is it that some music is so horrible/upsetting that people decide to refuse other people from listening to it?

Soviet 2.0. Where they banned books and music.

[MadmanOnWheels]

Not all things that people do is art. Not all so called art is right, because it's indecent. Some things that are banned shouldn't be. Some things that aren't banned should be. Being called art doesn't justify it still hanging on the wall, or being available to hear, or check out in the library.  There is pedophiliac pornography that has been found in books in a school library. Do you think that it should stay, just because it's a book? Where's the line? Just not listening to something isn't solving a problem. People not wanting trash available to others (Ex., their kids) is justified. People getting too offended over some things, now days, but some things are right to be offended over, while others aren't. Just because people are offended over certain things, it doesn't that those things are actually offensive and wrong. Something is just wrong with those people. And just because people aren't offended over certain things, it doesn't mean that those things are agreeable and right. It just means that the people not offended over indecent things are lacking some moral fiber. People exposing the truth is no reason to ban them. Unfortunately, it happens. Where is the line? Also, according to some representatives of Spotify, here, Spotify isn't the entity that bans the content that's not available.

There should be balance, between what you refer to as Soviet 2.0 and "Idiocracy", leaning more toward a society that's not loose (at least publicly), though.

[SELENOPHILE_]

Hii. You make a fair point. However, according to me, the intent is to disallow certain kind of music that is inappropriate for certain demographics (for eg. People of the age below 18). I do agree with your point though. If there was a better mechanism in place that could verify the profiles and the respective demographics, probably this issue could be resolved.

[Peter]

Hey @Matizz,

Thanks for starting this thread and for the interesting discussion.

I'm curious if you're thinking of any particular content which is not available for you on Spotify but available on other platforms. If you could share an example, that would give us a better idea of what you're referring to.

Bear in mind that if a song is missing from the Spotify catalogue, it might be an issue of availability in your region, rather than Spotify "blacklisting" it. I can think of a few examples where popular artists were banned outright, but not that many.

[zamps]

The only example of this I know of is removing R. Kelly's music from playlists that Spotify creates because of his repeated abuse towards young women. His music is still available on Spotify if searched for, but Spotify is not promoting him by adding his songs to their playlists because of his abusive behavior. Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/spotify-is-going-to-ban-or-bury-hateful-music-or-artists/

They briefly brought back this removing of songs from their playlists because Morgan Wallen used a racial slur, but received so much push back that the policy was quickly rescinded. Source here.

There are also some examples of contracts not working out like here and of removing songs because they believe people were being paid to listen to them like here but that is different than censoring.

Spotify has refused to do much censoring at all, in contrast with other social sites like Instagram and Facebook, as far as I know. Do you have other examples you could share? There may be other instances I didn't find by googling.

[tynon_1221]

I rarely actively go looking for anything on Spotify - granted, my taste in tunes is on the heavy side, so more negativity is bare necessity - but even so, i stumble across charged (in lyrical content) or outright (")offensive(") (i.e. album artwork) content still, kinda often. I like to think of myself as a big boy and therefore refrain from reporting what clashes with my sensibilities because i know i'm the outlier. If the ways of the world have taught me anything, it's that fringe circles should not be excluded. With the (arguably) extreme content that IS available on Spotify, i'm curious as to what's been outright banned.. I can agree with, both, Mattizz and MadmanOnWheels (👏👏 for that) [and am a little concerned that i'm complacent with what's been dictated/allowed to me], but it seems that things which are currently banned (of which i know none)... might deserve it(?)