【2001 Archives】

Algorithms don't understand when you break up with a band.

Calling it quits001 Archivesan musician you once loved, or just ridding your life of a song or artist you've come to completely loathe should be easy, right? Not on Spotify.

Listening passively to terrestrial radio is rare these days. Our feeds and playlists are constantly being curated by algorithms that theoretically know exactly what we'll like. We shouldhave the ultimate control over what we want to listen to, but there is sadly no way to block an artist on Spotify from ever playing one of their songs again.

This lack of a blocking feature has always annoyed hardcore Spotify Premium users, but it has become increasingly problematic in the #MeToo era, where we have more reasons than ever to want to quickly expunge an artist from our view.

Recently, Spotify announced a new public hate content and hateful conduct policy, noting that it no longer promotes music from R&B artist R. Kelly on its platform. Kelly has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and is allegedly running a sex cult.

"We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, but we want our editorial decisions -- what we choose to program -- to reflect our values. When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful (for example, violence against children and sexual violence), it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator," the policy reads.

What about Chris Brown, who was arrested for beating Rihanna? Does he get banned?

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For me, the issue really became apparent in November when a Facebook post about Brand New's frontman Jesse Lacey prompted two women to step forward and allege that he solicited explicit photos of them when they were minors. The accusations caused a reckoning among fans, who now looked back at the band they once loved with disgust.

Every time Brand New comes up on a Spotify playlist, I feel sick. I can't listen to the band any more, and every time a song of theirs comes up on a playlist or mix, I immediately hit the skip button. But it doesn't stop the band from continuing to pop up on mixes and playlists.

It's easy enough to remove a band from a playlist you've createdby clicking on the three dots, and you can blocka band from showing up on your Daily Mixes. But one of the best features of Spotify Premium is finding new music through Discover Weekly and its curated lists. Removing a band from those lists doesn't appear to be an option.

Spotify did not return my request for comment or information on a blocking feature, and despite many requests from the community, it doesn't appear the feature will be added anytime soon.

"After serious consideration, we’ve decided not to offer blocking/ hiding/ or blacklisting artists or tracks on Spotify at this time," the company stated in its community section in October 2017.

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Ah, yes. Just hit dislike and eventually, the algorithm will learn. Sorry, but that's not good enough.

An algorithm analyzing bands I don't want to hear isn't going to help in this case. It's not that I don't like music similar to Brand New. I just don't want to listen to themanymore.

I am definitely not the only person that wants this feature from Spotify. People want to block artists for all sorts of reasons.

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Some users are also claiming the "dislike" function just isn't working.

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It's unclear why the major streaming services are resisting the community's need for a blacklisting feature. Apple Music and Pandora don't have an easy way to block artists from ever showing up in your ear holes either.

Playlists and mixes are a great way to discover new music, but if you know you don't want to hear something what's the point of forcing users to listen.

Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music did not respond to a request for comment for this story.