🔵 Spotify Netherlands' Viral Chart is flooded with AI-generated, far-right racist tracks

Racism, AI, Antifa responses, all playing out on the world's biggest music streaming platform

Earlier today I was tipped off by a friend as to something fairly grim currently happening over in the Netherlands. The country’s Spotify Viral chart, which as the title suggests compiles the tracks going viral right now, is almost entirely comprised* of AI-generated, far-right supporting songs:

Not being a Dutch speaker, I ran the song titles through a translator. Here they are in English:

1. Wij zeggen nee, nee, nee, tegen een AZC – Hardcore Mix – We say no, no, no to an asylum seekers’ centre – Hardcore Mix

2. Vrijheid, Gelijkheid, Zusterschap – Freedom, Equality, Sisterhood

3. Wij zeggen Nee, Nee, Nee, tegen een AZC – We say No, No, No to an asylum seekers’ centre

4. Fuck jullie! Linkse Fuckers! – Hardcore Mix – Fuck you! Leftist Fuckers! – Hardcore Mix

5. Noem me maar Rechts-Extreem – Just call me Far-Right

6. Had Ik Maar – If Only I Had / I Wish I Had

7. Timmermans (Valse Profeet van het Klimaat) – Timmermans (False Prophet of the Climate)

8. Onze Vlag - Official Release – Our Flag - Official Release

9. Nederland United - Anti AZC – Netherlands United - Anti-Asylum Centre

10. Als het je niet bevalt, ga dan! (Anti-AZC) - Hardcore Mix – If you don’t like it, then leave! (Anti-Asylum Centre) - Hardcore Mix

11. Wij zijn er klaar mee! - Hardcore Mix – We’re done with it! - Hardcore Mix

12. Dit is Voor Nederland – This is For the Netherlands

13. Nederland in Verzet – Netherlands in Resistance

14. Als het je niet bevalt, Ga dan! – If you don’t like it, then leave!

Listening to some of the tracks, they bear all the hallmarks of AI slop, though I’m happy for someone to prove me wrong on that point.

Any which way, this raises all manner of questions. How are these songs getting platformed? Why is Spotify not noticing that its own viral chart is now full of far-right content? How can it not spot that these are also AI-generated? Also: where were these created?

It amounts to an apex moment of all the worst things colliding at once: AI slop, far-right/racist content, and all played out on the world’s most popular music streaming service.

I assume that Spotify remains oblivious to this all, given all tracks remain online at the time of writing. However it certainly leaves one wondering just how much the company is policing its own platform.

It also, of course, raises one final point: are these songs getting streamed legitimately, or is someone using bots to deliberately get the songs to go viral?

I cannot help but feel some kind of bot net is at work here, unless the Netherlands - and its music streamers - has just lurched all the way into Nazi territory, politically.

So that’s the problem; I guess the only question to ask now is what Spotify plan to do about it.

Have a great day,

D.

* quick update post-publication: to be clear: the tracks at numbers 2 and 6 are legitimate, and NOT right-wing, AI-generated slop. Whilst I did say “almost entirely” I didn’t specify which songs, so apologies if anyone was confused there.

⛔️ Recommendations will return on the next edition - putting anything next to this story just felt wrong, sorry… (but I do have one hell of a music release to recommend!) Actually, saying that, just go play this. Thanks.

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