Community Guidelines

Talking about the music is half the point of Holler. Comments sit under our articles, artist pages, tours and festivals, and anyone can read them. To post one you need a free Holler account.

We do not assume you agree with our writers, and we would rather you said so than stayed quiet. Disagree with the argument as hard as you like. These guidelines are about how we treat each other while doing it.

How moderation works

Every comment is checked automatically as you post it. If it is judged offensive it is not published, and you will be told so and can rewrite it. Nothing waits in a queue for approval: anything the check clears appears straight away.

The check is not the last word. It errs on the side of letting comments through, so our team also removes comments that breach these guidelines, either when we come across them or when a reader reports one. Every report is read by a person.

If your comment was blocked and you believe that was wrong, reword it and try again, or email us. We would rather hear about it than lose the comment.

What we remove

• Abuse, harassment, threats or personal attacks on other readers, our writers, or artists.
• Hate speech, or content attacking people over race, religion, nationality, sex, gender identity, sexuality or disability.
• Claims presented as fact that could be defamatory, about artists or anyone else.
• Spam, advertising, affiliate links and self-promotion.
• Impersonating another reader, an artist, or anyone from Holler.
• Anyone's personal information, including addresses, phone numbers and private messages.
• Illegal content, or links to pirated music and recordings.
• Deliberately derailing a thread, or posting the same comment repeatedly.

Strong language is not banned. Using it at another person is.

What happens to a removed comment

The comment stays in the thread, but the text is replaced with a note saying it breached these guidelines. We do not display who wrote it. The original wording is kept on our side so the decision can be reviewed if you query it.

Repeated breaches lead to an account being suspended, and a suspended account cannot post anywhere on Holler.

Reporting a comment

If you think a comment breaches these guidelines, use the Report link on it and tell us why: spam, abuse or harassment, off topic, or something else, with a note if you want to add context. The comment is then reviewed by our team.

If it is fine, it stays up. If it breaches these guidelines, it comes down. We will not always reply to you individually, and a comment staying up is not us ignoring you, it is a decision.

Reporting comments you simply disagree with, or reporting one reader repeatedly to silence them, is itself a breach and can cost you your account.

If several accounts are abusing the guidelines at once, or you want to raise something about the comments as a whole, email heythere@holler.country.

Your own comments

You can edit a comment for five minutes after posting, which is there for typos rather than second thoughts. Editing closes once a comment has been reported. You can delete your own comment at any time: the thread will show that you deleted it, and the text is gone for good.

Your account and your comments

Deleting your Holler account does not delete your comments. They stay in the threads they were posted in, under the username you used at the time.

If you want them gone, delete them before you delete your account. If you have already closed your account, sign up again with the same email address and your old comments will be yours to delete from your profile.

When comments are closed

We sometimes turn comments off on a particular piece, usually where a story involves grief, an ongoing legal matter, or where a thread has stopped being a conversation. It is not a reflection on anyone who commented.

Getting in touch

Questions about these guidelines, or about a decision we have made, go to heythere@holler.country. Our approach to the journalism itself is set out in our editorial policy.