New project pairs journalists with musicians to fight censorship
The Uncensored Playlist is using a loophole for music to deliver the news.
A new project from Reporters Without Borders Germany is using a loophole in certain nations' censorship laws to deliver news, Pitchfork reports. The Uncensored Playlist pairs journalists with local musicians in China, Egypt, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam to write songs which convey news stories that would otherwise be censored beyond meaning. The songs are then uploaded on Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music, with the names of the artists and reporters protected in their home countries.
The project is made possible thanks to laws that allow pop music to go uncensored on streaming services, and is further explained in the video above. In a statement to Pitchfork, Bianca Dordea of creative agency DDB Berlin expanded on the project, which is hoping to raise awareness - and funds - while momentarily helping the problem itself.
“More than a fundraising or awareness effort, we’re happy to have landed on a unique way—music as a Trojan Horse, of sorts—to allow these censored stories to reach the world," Dordea said.
Listen to the Uncensored Playlist below.
Thumbnail image of a Reporters Without Borders Germany protest courtesy of Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.