MUSIC MONDAY: Tribute Playlist to Reggae Legend Bob Marley and What GBN Will Do about Spotify (LISTEN)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. As yesterday was what would have been Bob Marley’s 77th birthday, and since Marlon West crafted such a lovely tribute playlist to the reggae legend in his honor last year, I thought it fitting to share it once again in case anyone missed it:

What I’d like to add this time around —  you can read Marlon’s words about Bob Marley and his indelible contributions to the genre of Reggae and music worldwide here — is some thoughts about the recent controversy around Spotify, Joe Rogan, india.arie and if GBN will continue to utilize the platform for our playlists.

In case anyone doesn’t know what I’m referring to, a handful of high-profile musicians including india.arie have requested their music be removed from Spotify while the streaming service continues to host Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Some musicians are upset about the COVID-19 disinformation he’s propagated on his show; india.arie said her choice stems from his racist comments and content:

After removing her music from @Spotify, @indiaarie has doubled down on her decision alongside clips of @joerogan using racist language: "They take this money from music streaming and pay this guy $100million and pay us .003% of a penny [per stream]? Just take me off!"

TW: n-word pic.twitter.com/wvzqh4OnB0

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) February 3, 2022

India.arie’s protest has certainly hit home. GBN unequivocally does not support what Joe Rogan has said, and fully understands why artists and platform users alike may want to #DeleteSpotify.

So, the question remains: Will GBN, an outlet dedicated to promoting positivity about Black people, Black culture and Black history, continue to utilize a platform that is still supporting a high-profile voice that has spoken words and spouted ideas antithetical to our mission, even if they have removed the offending episodes?

The simple answer is yes. And here is the main reason why.

When we started offering music lists regularly in 2020, we chose Spotify because of the biggest platforms out there – Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal – Spotify is the only one that offers a free tier that makes its platform accessible to all without the need of a paid subscription.

That felt (and still feels) like a democratic offering that made it the best choice for GBN. And because this free access eliminates an economic barrier to what we feel is a form of education as much as it is entertainment, we will continue to post our playlists through Spotify for as long as the music we highlight and seek to honor remains available there.

At the same time, we respect and support anyone who no longer wants to be on that platform. So going forward, we also are looking into offering our playlists on Apple Music and Tidal as well and providing those links in our Music Monday or other Music posts.

Whatever your take on the situation, we appreciate your convictions as well as your support.  And as always, we hope you enjoy the music.