Spotify has denied reports it has deleted Cory Bernardi's Hottest 100 protest playlist.
While the Australian Conservatives leader this morning claimed that the streaming giant said it is "going to be removing [the playlist]", Spotify has confirmed in a statement given to The Music that the claim is incorrect.
"The playlist in question has always been available for listening; however, what was in fact removed was the title and/or image for the playlist created by the user," the statement reads.
"This action was an automated response addressing user complaints about the playlist."
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The statement comes after Spotify condemned Bernardi's playlist, with a spokesperson saying this morning, "We want to make clear we do not endorse this playlist, nor do we have any official ties to the Australian Conservatives party nor any other political party".
When asked by The Music if the image and title could be replaced, Spotify said, "As this is user-generated content, this is up to the user".
The Australian Conservative party reacted to the decision in a tweet posted earlier today.
Principle prevails! We are grateful that common sense has seen @Spotify agree to leave @corybernardi's #AC100 playlist online. So party on and vote via https://t.co/jmglzlZfrx #abetterway
— Aust Conservatives (@AuConservatives) January 19, 2018
Bernardi's move has been widely slammed by big-name Australian artists, including Darren Hayes, Jimmy Barnes, Bernard Fanning, Hilltop Hoods, Icehouse and Colin Hay.
