A Scots singer says more still needs to be done to recognise Scots as an official language after a successful campaign to have it added to a major streaming site.
Musician Iona Fyfe has been campaigning for Scots to be added to Spotify's list of languages since December, after being told to "select the language closest to it" when uploading her music.
Manx, Irish Gaelic, Cornish, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic were already listed, however Scots was not.
Writing exclusively for Voices Live, The Herald's home for digital analysis and insight for subscribers, Iona has called for a Scots Language Act to be introduced to help solve the issue.
READ IONA'S FULL PIECE: Scots language is not part of a 'nationalist agenda' — it's simply our 'mither tongue'
"Spotify’s move to recognise Scots will no doubt raise the profile of the language," Iona wrote. "It is incredibly important that a global organisation like Spotify has taken steps to recognise a minority language that 30% of the Scottish population speak, but I feel deflated that it took so much perseverance to pressure the organisation into recognising Scots, when every other UK minority language was already accounted for."
She said the Act is about creating "meaningful change", and could mean the world of difference for many across the country.
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Commenting, the SNP’s Clare Adamson said: "Iona is a superb advocate for the Scots language and a fabulous musician. Her efforts have been rewarded and I was pleased to help as a long time Scots language advocate myself. It's a sair fecht but now the many talented Scots artists on Spotify will be able to have their work properly recognised.
"Preservation of a language is not just about promoting or celebrating culture or identity – though that is significant. Preservation of a language is an inherent acceptance of the people who speak it. That is something worth singing about and that is why I am delighted that Spotify has budged on this glaring omission."
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