What happens when your favourite idol gets cancelled?

Simone is assistant professor of Media & Popular Culture at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication. She researches what cancel culture means for fans, including Marco Borsato's. Media platform NOSop3 was also curious about whether cancelled artists are still being listened to and getting airtime on radio. They researched some cancelled artists, such as Marco Borsato and Lil' Kleine, and spoke to radio stations about their policies for cancelled artists. The NOSop3 item explains that radio stations certainly try to assess what their listeners like to listen to and this is where developments such as the cancellation of an artist come into play. However, radio stations also state that they do not want to play judge and therefore focus on what the listener wants.

However, the numbers in private listening to a cancelled artist can differ from radio airtime, as in the case of Lil' Kleine's music, for example. NOSop3 shows how radio stations played Lil' Kleine less when he was discredited, yet peaks of airtime can be seen when Lil' Kleine releases another new hit. In terms of active listeners on Spotify, the data remains much more even for Lil' Kleine and smaller dips can be seen. Simone explained this as follows: "Cancelling in itself is something public. You need a certain mass for cancelling, a crowd participating in that boycott. And privately, of course, it can be different. The question is, she says: "Can you separate the art from the maker? Or do you still see it as a whole?"