Christian Genre Removed?!

[simonscramble]

Why has the Christian Genre been removed?

[user-removed]

im wondering the same thing

[KiwiTank]

I have just noticed this too...

[jcrox100]

The question is will spotify ever respond to this question or will they just ignore this as they do most forums.

[KiwiTank]

I would be very surprised if they replied to this, and even more so if they gave a meaningful response. 

I can't imagine that it was an unpopular genre - it is probably more of an ideological move. 

[Andyd63]

What's more interesting is that a Gay Pride genre has been put in. Does Spotify see the two as mutually exclusive?

[simonscramble]

It seemed to come on the back of the marriage equality vote in Australia. I guess it’s riding a wave of support for the Pride movement. Shame that the Christian genre fell victim.

[Staffy777]

Well I plagued them over two days and just got rather bland answers as per below

We don't have any info to share right now, but we'll let the right team know that you'd like to see it in the Genres and Moods page in the future

AND

We understand. Rest assured, your comments have been passed onto the right folks. In the meantime, if there's anything else we can help you with, just shout!

So no real answers as expected, neither do I expect any....unfortunately

Did a bit of checking on Christian Playlists, just in case they thought there was not enough interest in Christian Genre...

Worship Now 615000
Christian Mix 157000
Blessings 95000
Gospel 333000
Pop for Life 218000
Hillsong Playlists combined 5.5 MILLION
Planetshakers 500000

Im sure this is just the tip of the Iceberg....

I would say thats enough interest....

[vaalseun]

Try this bro

https://open.spotify.com/view/inspirational-page

[Hannah_Banana]

It's terrible. I went looking for it today and couldn't find it. Thats when i relised it must have been deleted. 

[Kurieuo]

Time to look for a Spotify replacement. Encourage all Christians to do so.

[jacobgrumley]

more than likely

just wait for everyone to forgot and make their own christian playlists

[Michael33c]

The gay pride category has been there a while. But when I checked the followers it was less than a tenth of most of the Christian playlists

[ASMarr]

I’ve been relying on the Christian genre since I started using Spotify to find new releases, etc I may not otherwise be aware of - especially when travelling. Can someone at Spotify please give a clear response as to why it appears to have been removed, and what criteria were applied in the consideration? Christian/Gospel music has a huge following worldwide and continues to deserve a category of its own. I hope it hasn’t been classified under inspirational, spritual etc as these categories can encompass so many other, different belief systems. Some have commented here that it may have been replaced with the Pride genre, but let’s not go there. It’s not our place to say what genres should or shouldn’t be included - but I’m sure we’d all like to know if and when ‘Christian’ will be restored? Thanks!

[cait345]

Somebody want to start a petition on Change.org? Christian artists must not be happy about this too.

[ASMarr]

I would agree that many Christian artists may not be happy but I’m not sure we need a change.org petition. Many users may not be aware yet, or may not know about this forum, so why don’t we encourage others to use it to ask Spotify for their response and for the genre to be restored. 

[KiwiTank]

I saw the same thing happen on Spotify when I was living in Norway. One day the genre was there, and the next it was gone. I don't believe it ever came back. 

I imagine this is a global trend by Spotify where they will quietly remove this genre and it will be forgotten that it was ever there. I have seen a number of posts claiming that having a genre based on a specific faith was offensive to them, which while not a driving force unto themselves, this view will likely be a factor in this change. There are always those of the loud and vocal minority wanting to remove any public references to religion (Christianity especially), and neutrality in the form of the genre removal by Spotify is likely their politically correct response. 

[ASMarr]

You may be right Gig Spider. Sad that people take the time to complain about a genre when they can just pick anything else to listen to.

But even if people are offended at ‘Christian’ surely ‘Gospel’ would be acceptable as a time-proven, globally accepted and PC alternative?

Just not ‘Spiritual’ please ... 

Come on Spotify - your answer please? Consult your community and let’s find a solution together 🙂

[cait345]

I've done my bit, the other day I asked them through Technical Support -
Other:
I am a Spotify Premium subscriber. Can you please put the Christian genre
back in Browse. I have used it a lot and I think it is great that Spotify
had this genre. It was very popular. Why has it been taken down?
They replied on 5 Jan 2018:
*Thanks for getting in touch. We're sorry to hear you're not seeing the
Christian genre when using the Browse feature. Don't worry, we'll have this
sorted out.*
At least with Change.org you can see how many people are wanting the genre
reinstated.

[cait345]

I've done my bit, the other day I asked them through Technical Support - Other:

I am a Spotify Premium subscriber. Can you please put the Christian genre back in Browse. I have used it a lot and I think it is great that Spotify had this genre. It was very popular. Why has it been taken down?

They replied on 5 Jan 2018:

Thanks for getting in touch. We're sorry to hear you're not seeing the Christian genre when using the Browse feature. Don't worry, we'll have this sorted out.
At least with Change.org you can see how many people are wanting the genre reinstated.