Situation:

Fascism rises again worldwide, but especially in Germany. The ultimate gateway into the scene is music. In the past, fascist music was hard to find, today it’s super easy to come by: streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube host thousands of songs with fascist ideology – even worse, their algorithms help spread those songs. Few people are aware of the problem in Germany. And even though the platforms do know, no effective measures are taken to remove these songs or bands.

Brief:

Laut gegen Nazis, an acclaimed organisation fighting fascism in every form, wanted to change that, wake up the platforms and activate people, so fascist music is removed from the web.

Objectives:

Create as much awareness of the problem as possible

Activate people to put pressure on the platforms

Get the platforms to act and remove songs and bands

Strong activation without a big budget.

Fascism rises again, especially in Germany. THE gateway into the scene: Music. Fascist songs are super easy to find on streaming platforms like Spotify. Even worse: the algorithms will recommend more once you listen to a song. To remind the platforms of their duty of care, we tricked algorithms into promoting a trojan nazi band instead, HetzJaeger. We perfectly tailored our teaser song to the parameters of the algorithms; that’s how we created the perfect trojan Nazi-Rock band. One month later, the algorithms automatically recommended our teaser to most of the German fascist scene. We finally released the whole song on Hitler’s seizure of power anniversary – revealing its true nature and stirring public outcry and demands for more regulation on the streaming platforms. And now, the platforms finally start to act: over 700 fascist songs and bands have already been removed.

With the help of music streaming data analysis tools like, e.g. Chartmetric, we identified the most popular fascist rock tracks, their fanbase and the most important playlists. We consulted both experts from record labels for streaming services distribution and experts on the fascist scene in Germany. We also screened YouTube and Telegram to get an in-depth understanding of how to optimise our band and song. Next, musicians and producers crafted the piece according to our data findings. Social media experts infiltrated key Telegram and Instagram groups to trick the nazis into discussing, sharing and liking our band and song. We also used Spotify's and YouTube’s Artist Affinity Targeting to play pre rolls and audio + banner ads for our teaser to fans of real fascist bands – resulting in relevant plays and playlist listings that further trained the algorithms.

After analysing hundreds of real nazi songs, we crafted our 1:20 min teaser to be the perfect trojan Fascist-rock song – with the typical style, tempo, dynamic and pitch. Our lyrics used the scene’s most frequent buzzwords, phrasing and syntax. On 30th December 2021, we published it on Spotify, Soundcloud, Deezer, Amazon, Apple and YouTube. Along with it, a music video teaser, website and social media profiles. We infiltrated fascist Telegram groups and built a nazi fanbase on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And also used Artist Affinity Targeting to play pre rolls and audio + banner ads for our teaser to fans of real nazi bands – managing to get likes, shares, plays and playlist listings from relevant fascist fans. All to convince the algorithms that HetzJaeger is THE new Nazi-rock band. And it worked: within one month, our song was recommended to most of the German fascist scene: over 120,000 times. We finally released the full song on 30th January 2022, the anniversary of Hitler’s seizure of power – revealing its true nature.The fascist scene went crazy on social media, but so did the public. The streaming services' role in spreading fascist ideology became utterly clear – topic awareness rose by +500% in Germany. Over 200,000 supporters demanded stronger regulations and the removal of fascist bands from the platforms. We started a petition, and the press pitched in, resulting in over 1.7 billion media reach. “Laut gegen Nazis”, an acclaimed organisation fighting fascism in every form, and the initiators behind HetzJaeger, boosted their social media reach by +771% and engagement with their content by +1,400%. Still, most importantly, the platforms started to act. Over 700 fascist songs and bands have already been removed – all due to a little 1:20 min teaser song.

In only one month, the algorithms automatically recommended our teaser to 120,000 real nazi fans – most of the German fascist scene, with almost no media spending. After the reveal, we activated over 200,000 supporters to pressure the platforms, and we started a petition on change.org. On social media, the German public and famous German Musicians joined our cause. As a result of our PR strategy around HetzJaeger, we succeeded with a media reach of: 1.7 billion. The major German quality papers, podcasts, radio and TV stations reported on our action. Most of the coverage was in-depth, with quality reports, interviews and comments on our stunt. Without exception, the coverage was positive. The topic awareness rose by +500% in Germany. Even though it was a mostly German initiative, media in over 28 countries covered it. ”Laut gegen Nazis” boosted their social media reach by +771% and engagement with their content by +1,400%, but most importantly, the platforms started to act: Over 700 fascist songs and bands have been removed.