Downing Glory: Hong Kong government gets a breakthrough as protest song removed from top music sites globally
- ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ no longer available on Apple Music or Spotify, even with use of VPN, indicating takedown not limited to Hong Kong
- Dgxmusic, production team behind song, said it received notification from distribution service Emubands it would take down song from all platforms but hopes to reverse decision
A controversial song made popular during Hong Kong’s 2019 social unrest has been globally removed from several music platforms in an apparent breakthrough for the government after it secured a court order to ban the circulation of the tune earlier this month.
While video-streaming giant YouTube earlier said it would comply with the injunction to block “Glory to Hong Kong” in the city, different versions of the song had remained readily available on the platform and other music-streaming apps.
But the song was no longer available on Apple Music or Spotify on Friday, even with the use of a VPN, indicating the takedown was not limited to Hong Kong. But it was still accessible on Taiwan-based platform KKBox.
Dgxmusic, the production team behind the song, said it had received a notification from Scotland-based digital music distribution service Emubands that it would take down the song from all platforms “due to an injunction order by the Hong Kong court”.
“After we immediately attempted to search on various platforms, it is confirmed that the song had disappeared from iTunes and Apple Music in various regions,” a social media post by Dgxmusic said.
“We have expressed our opposition to Emubands, pointing out that the injunction does not have extraterritorial jurisdiction. More importantly, the song itself is not banned by the injunction.
