Spotify Pleases No One By Inserting 8:46 Moment Of Silence Into Playlists In Memory Of George Floyd

Yesterday, Spotify announced that it would be inserting 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence into playlists and podcasts to observe the music industry's "Blackout Tuesday" initiative, an industry-wide protest of police brutality and honoring of the memory of George Floyd. 8 minutes and 46 seconds is the amount of time Minnesota officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck. While well-intentioned, critics have called the gesture "hilariously empty."

There was a marketing meeting at Spotify where everybody pitched ways that the brand could engage with the news and the thing that won in the room was adding silence timed to match how long it took for a man to suffocate at the hands of a cop. Representation! https://t.co/f2t70bvsSG

— sweethearted peter (@nicefriend420) June 2, 2020

As the George Floyd Protests continue to rage in America, brands have struggled with how to show solidarity with the protestors while not being too controversial. For many brands, this has amounted to condemning the killing of Floyd while simultaneously condemning racism "of all kinds," which critics have called empty rhetoric similar to Thoughts and Prayers without donations to charities supporting the protestors. Some have done similar observances of the 8:46 time (though Gamespot in particular failed at this).

ok but what if you offered 8 uninterrupted minutes of head https://t.co/7TZVjZoUnw

— lil egusi vert 🇳🇬 (@yedoyeOT) June 2, 2020

Are you joking https://t.co/oeEPWssyqW

— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) June 1, 2020

Spotify's decision has been starkly contrasted with other streaming services' actions during the protests. In particular, it has been harshly compared to Bandcamp, which is donating 100% of its proceeds on "Juneteenth" (June 19th) to the NAACP.

Spotify talks the talk, Bandcamp walks the walk pic.twitter.com/zTKMquDZCo

— Chris _ _ Richards (@Chris__Richards) June 2, 2020

Spotify's move has been protested by listeners and artists alike.

open ur purse @Spotify https://t.co/sm8ArS1cRD

— Kehlani (@Kehlani) June 2, 2020

Amazon: we have produced the most meaningless and hypocritical empty brand gesture for this moment.

Spotify: hold my beer https://t.co/bEZbEa2Mm3

— Evan Greer (@evan_greer) June 2, 2020

hey @Spotify OPEN YOUR FUCKING PURSE https://t.co/CryCsLzB13

— ● Will Wiesenfeld ● (@BATHSmusic) June 2, 2020

As "Blackout Tuesday" critics have argued that the initiative is inadvertently silencing black voices, Spotify's 8:46 moment of silence was likely not the best PR choice. It also starkly contrasts a May 30th tweet from the company in which it said "Now is not the time for silence."

pic.twitter.com/nmJR8E7ZQN

— Spotify (@Spotify) May 30, 2020