New Delhi: Music and podcast streaming application, Spotify, is facing a fresh round of boycott. This time for running advertisements for the US government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement on its platform.
ICE is under the supervision of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The body conducts criminal investigations and enforces immigration laws. It has been under fire in the US for its violent raids and arrests. Large-scale protests have taken place across the country against ICE and its aggressive tactics.
Several users, major indie record labels ANTI- and Epitaph Records and the band Thursday took to social media platforms to express their anger and displeasure. They want the platform to pull down the recruitment ads for ICE.
‘No Kings’, a political movement that has been organising protests against authoritarianism in the US, have also called for the boycott of Spotify.
One of the users, Aubrey Garwood, on X wrote, “Long overdue but I finally canceled my @Spotify subscription. The ICE ads were the final straw after being a member for 10 years and using the service for 15. My regret is I didn’t cancel years ago…”
Another user, Jeralyn Cave called this “outrageous”. She also said the music streaming platform has been exploiting the artists.
Over the years, multiple artists have complained that Spotify does not compensate artists fairly. Popstar Taylor Swift removed her entire music catalogue from the platform between late 2014 and mid 2017 for this reason.
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What is Spotify’s response?
The boycott movement that started on social media in October. A post by an user on X showed the advertisement popping up between songs. In the ad, a man with a heavy hoarse voice says, “Join the mission to protect America with up to 50,000 dollar bonus”.
ICE has spent more than $6.5 million on ads for its national recruitment campaign. The security body is supposed to hire 10,000 deportation officers by the end of the year, AP reported.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “The ICE recruitment campaign is a resounding success with more than 150,000 applications rolling in from patriotic Americans answering the call to defend the Homeland by helping arrest and remove the worst of the worst from our country.”
In response to the users’ allegations, the digital music app said that it has no plans of removing commercials. A statement by Spotify on 14 October said, “This advertisement is part of a broad campaign the US government is running across television, streaming, and online channels”.
“The content does not violate our advertising policies. However, users can mark any ad with a thumbs up or thumbs down to help manage their ads preferences,” it added.
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Spotify’s earlier scandals
This is not the first time there have been calls to boycott Spotify this year. After CEO Daniel Ek led a billion-dollar investment into German military technology company Helsing, calls to boycott Spotify started across social media platforms.
Sylvan Esso, Massive Attack, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Cindy Lee, Hotline TNT, Skee Mask, John Mailander and more have removed their music from the platform due to Ek’s investments.
The German defence tech company uses artificial intelligence technology to analyse sensor and weapons system data from battlefields to inform real-time military decisions.The company also makes its own military drone, the HX-2.
The investment also prompted the global BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement to boycott Spotify.
In response, Spotify and Helsing said there is a lot of misinformation about the defence tech company. Helsing’s statement read “Currently we see misinformation spreading that Helsing’s technology is deployed in war zones other than Ukraine. This is not correct. Our technology is deployed to European countries for deterrence and for defence against the Russian aggression in Ukraine only.”
The Spotify for Artists Instagram page also commented on Massive Attack’s post about the boycott. “Spotify and Helsing are two totally separate companies. And while I can’t speak for Helsing, I’m well aware they’re not involved in Gaza,” it read.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)