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Spotify UK will no longer use the term 'urban'

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Spotify UK will no longer use the word 'urban'.
Spotify UK will no longer use the word 'urban'.
Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

In an interview with Music Week, Spotify UK's Safiya Lambie-Knight revealed that the company would no longer be using the term "urban" to describe Black music genres. 

"Urban" has historically been used in music to categorise work created by Black musicians.

"We won't be using the word 'urban' in the UK anymore," she told the publication, adding: "I look after a breadth of what were previously 'urban' genres and it will allow us to have broader conversations around creativity and artists."

Right now, the move only applies to Spotify UK, but "conversations are underway about how the company will move forward globally," Music Week reports.

Spotify UK's decision to rid their playlists of the term "urban" comes not long after the Grammys removed the word from a major category and US label Republic Records revealed that it would stop using the term with immediate effect in June.

"We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not adhere to the outdated structures of the past," Republic Records wrote about their decision. 

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