In a world where technology allows customization beyond your wildest hopes and dreams, where all content is at your fingertips, there seemed to be something lacking for the longest time: the option to mute. And Spotify has finally decided to offer it.
Instagram and Twitter have jumped on the bandwagon of muting topics, people, and posts that a user may find problematic or offensive, so it should not come as a surprise that Spotify has finally opted to offer a similar option, allowing a user to chose whether or not to listen to an artist.
Muting is the newest feature unveiled as a result of Spotify’s Hateful Conduct Policy, which caused backlash over censorship when the company removed artists from the streaming platform due to abuse and misconduct by several artists during the #MeToo era.
Users didn’t like the concept that Spotify simply wouldn’t offer the artists music to all, and in amidst this controversy, the mute option was born.
Mute will allow all users to opt for artists to not be played on their Spotify account. While songs by any muted artist will still appear on playlists, radio, and even searches, Spotify will simply skip them unless you specifically click on the tracks. The tracks will only be played if specifically clicked on, or the mute is reversed on the artist’s profile.
The policy is an interesting development in Spotify’s quest to address issues with hateful conduct, but, overall, is a nice development regardless. Finally you can skip the artists you don’t like without even giving them a second thought.
