Screenshots of Morgan Wallen being played on Pandora Accounts on Friday, May 14th.
Pandora Radio, owned by SiriusXM, has now lifted its three-month ban on Morgan Wallen’s music, according to multiple fan reports.
Morgan Wallen’s ban was lifted at some point on Friday afternoon (May 14), according to numerous reports (and associated screenshots) from die-hard fans. The streaming radio platform, now owned by Sirius XM Holdings Inc., first pulled Wallen from its channels in early February after the singer was caught on camera uttering a racial insult outside his home. home. Soon after the incident, Pandora cleared all Morgan Wallen tracks from its service, even Morgan Wallen stations.
At this point, it is not known if SiriusXM plans a similar recovery on its satellite radio channels. An official announcement has not been made about this – and may never be released. Indeed, it’s possible that Pandora was hoping to quietly put Wallen back into her playlists to appease angry listeners.
Previously, a number of radio stations had said they were inundated with calls from angry Wallen fans after removing the singer’s music from their shows. Currently, most US radio stations are still blocking Wallen’s music, although a number have reinstated the singer’s tracks in response to loud protests from fans.
It is not known whether Pandora has lost listeners as a result of Wallen’s ban, although listener attrition remains a serious issue for the online radio platform. As competitors like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music continue to bring in new users and subscribers, Pandora has been losing listeners for years. In the past two years alone, Pandora has lost over 10 million active users, a situation that has likely made it difficult for a large portion of country music fans to become alienated.
News of Pandora’s reinstatement closely follows a change in tone at Wallen’s label, Big Loud Records.
Earlier this week, Big Loud CEO Seth England openly expressed his support for Wallen, before footing the tab for an expensive birthday golf outing for the singer. Big Loud, which is in partnership with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, has yet to officially reinstate Wallen after suspending the singer in February.
Other platforms are playing with reintegrations. Spotify, for example, reinstated Wallen in a few country playlists. But Spotify stopped before returning the singer to its flagship playlist, Hot Country, which attracts millions of country fans.
Separately, Morgan Wallen decided to cancel his entire summer tour itinerary following the controversy. This included a number of country festival dates and an entire tour opening for Luke Bryan. It’s unclear when Wallen will resume touring plans, although there are currently rumors of a possible headlining Arena tour in 2022.
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