Analysis of Corporate Responses to Black Lives Matter Movement by MaryClaire Schulz — 61
social media users were pleased with Pandora’s message of support and left comments thanking the music-
streaming service for supporting the movement.
In comparison to Spotify and Pandora, Apple, owner of the Apple Music streaming service, has
addressed both police and Black civilian deaths, but not Black Lives Matter specically (Sumagaysay, 2016).
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, tweeted out multiple times in early July 2016 about “senseless killings” and how they
“remind us that justice is still out of reach for many,” and expressed sympathy for the “families of the fallen
ofcers” in Dallas, Texas
4
. This response from Apple was more tempered than those of both Pandora and
Spotify, and there were no major critical responses from Apple Music users or Apple consumers in general.
In regard to the mission statements and values of the analyzed music-subscription services, Spotify’s
mission is to provide unlimited music to people in a legal and accessible way (Spotify, 2016). Pandora’s
mission is “to play only music you’ll love,” while Apple’s mission focuses more broadly on its products and its
commitment to providing the best personal computing experience possible (Pandora, 2016; Blodget, 2013).
Each of these music-subscription services have users from ages 18 to approximately 50, though Pandora has
seen a major decrease in its number of active users in recent years due to the rise in popularity of competitor
streaming services (Statista, 2016c).
In terms of nancial responses, Pandora saw a drop in its stock prices after its social media posts
in support of Black Lives Matter, but the company has been experiencing some nancial troubles over the
past few years due to the rise of new music-subscription services and a decreasing number of subscribers
(YCharts, 2016c). Neither Apple nor Spotify saw particularly signicant drops in stock after releasing their
statements (YCharts, 2016d; YCharts 2016e).
In the case of these music-subscription services, the variety of responses and subsequent criticism
provided an interesting comparison in reactions from different user communities. Spotify and Pandora
received backlash from subscribers opposed to seeing social or political views from subscription services,
and neither of these services’ mission statements address much beyond a commitment to providing music for
subscribers. On the other hand, Apple, a much larger corporation, released a statement on issues generally
related to the Black Lives Matter Movement and expressed sympathy for both Black individuals and law
enforcement ofcers who were killed. Though it is important to acknowledge that Apple Music is part of a
much larger and well known corporation with well-regarded products, Apple’s tempered response did seem to
be much more well-received than the other two music-streaming services.
Overall, companies that chose to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement did so via letters from
top leaders, such as CEOs, or through posts on company social media accounts. Some companies, like
Spotify, chose to support Black Lives Matter through creating content that aligns with the service the company
provides. Online responses tended to involve hashtags relating to Black Lives Matter, which align with Bonilla
and Rosa’s (2015) ideas about social movements taking advantage of hashtags to connect with supporters
and consumers interested in social movements. In addition, many responses contained emotive language
expressing grief, empathy, and concern regarding not just the Black Lives Matter movement, but also the
greater state of social and racial inequalities in American society.
In terms of comparing responses to the Black Lives Matter movement across industries, it is notable
that companies with mission statements that communicated values of inclusivity, diversity, and individuality
chose to issue a response to Black Lives Matter, and tended to use emotive language to express distress
and sympathy for those involved in the movement. On the other hand, Spotify and Pandora, companies
with mission statements revolving mainly around the services they provide, faced criticism from a number of
subscribers after attempting to express company stances on issues concerning racial justice.
Companies that took stances on Black Lives Matter were also deeply knowledgeable about their
consumer audiences. Companies like Nike not only target its products to young, socially minded consumers,
but also establish sponsorships and brand partnerships with talented athletes tied to the Black Lives Matter
movement. It must take these audiences into account when choosing to issue a statement on a polarizing
issue. Other companies, like Facebook, appeal to consumer and employee stakeholder groups by publicly
supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraging Black Lives Matter proponents to express
themselves in the workplace. Despite this public support, however, Facebook faced criticism from those
who advocate diversity in Silicon Valley as the company could be contributing to racial inequality for African
4 See Footnote 2.