In Scotland, we have three national languages – English, Gaelic and Scots. The 2011 census revealed that 1.5 million people identified as speaking Scots, yet much of Scotland’s population is unaware that they possess skills in reading, writing and speaking Scots. Scots is part of the West Germanic language family and is a sister language to English with close affinities with Scandinavian languages such as Danish and Norwegian. Scots has four main dialects: Insular, Northern, Central and Southern, but for me, it was just the way folk spoke in their everyday lives. Growing up in rural Aberdeenshire, I didn’t realise that the way people speak – in Doric, a vernacular or byleid of Scots – was a special and unique trait of the regions people, lore and history. At the time, I was unaware of the similitude of Scots to other European languages, I was unaware of the language’s history and the significance of the literature written in the language, and I was unaware of i
Iona, who has a degree in Scots Song from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, plans to release it on all online platforms on Christmas Eve.
Now, she wants the music streaming site to do more to support Scots music.
“There are so many Scots Songs on Spotify, they could even go further to remedy the situation by creating an editorial Scots Song playlist.
“Now this is on their radar, they know that the Scots language community will hold them accountable,” she said.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Iona was set to tour Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the UK and the USA.
Scots singer Iona Fyfe has urged Spotify to include her language on their platform SPOTIFY has been urged to include Scots on its list of languages after its exclusion was noted by a prominent Scottish musician. In a letter to the music streaming giant, singer Iona Fyfe said it was “heartbreaking” that people who sing in Scots have to categorise their songs as “English”. Fyfe, who was named Scots Performer of the Year at this year’s Scots Language Awards, had previously asked Spotify to include the language on the list, but was told to make do by “selecting the language closest to it”.