Spotify removes R. Kelly’s Songs From its Playlists

AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 03: R. Kelly performs in concert at The Bass Concert Hall on March 3, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)

Spotify, one of the music industry’s leading streaming service, said on Thursday that it would stop promoting or recommending music by artists whose content or conduct it deemed to be offensive. The company, released its new policy today regarding hate content and hateful conduct by citing two artists — R. Kelly and XXXtentacion (who is facing charges of domestic abuse in Florida).

According to the statement released:

We do not tolerate hate content on Spotify – content that expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability.

Alongside the announcement, Spotify confirmed that to www.npr.org that one of the first artists to be affected by the policy would be R. Kelly, following the accusations against him of extensive sexual misconduct dating back nearly two decades:

We are removing R. Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations such as Discover Weekly. His music will still be available on the service, but Spotify will not actively promote it, We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behaviour, but we want our editorial decisions — what we choose to program — to reflect our values. When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.