Russia invaded Ukraine. Then Spotify users bombarded the music scene with violent, pro-war messages

As the Russo-Ukrainian conflict – which began in 2014 – intensifies, Spotify playlists are being updated in real time. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine last week, and Spotify users have already begun curating political and combative playlists like “Songs to listen to while invading Ukraine,” “Ukraine needs to be nuked,” and "Songs that hit harder than Russia’s nuke on Ukraine.” 

USA TODAY found at least 66 suggestive or hostile playlists, in addition to a slew of others that contain mixed political messages. Despite the app’s guidelines that prohibit listeners and artists from posting sensitive, deceptive or dangerous content, Spotify – the largest music streaming service in the world with a market share of 31% – still has allowed users in favor of war, violence, or terrorism to spread provocative messages via the app.