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*In an effort to crack down on hate content, beginning today (May 10), Spotify users will no longer be able to find R. Kelly’s music on any of the streaming service’s editorial or algorithmic playlists.
It seems the company is adding its voice to the growing chorus attempting to hold the R&b singer responsible after decades of accusations of sexual misconduct.
As reported by msn.com, under the terms of the company’s new public hate content and hateful conduct policy, Spotify will no longer promote Kelly’s music, removing his songs from flagship playlists like RapCaviar, Discover Weekly or New Music Friday, for example, as well as its other genre- or mood-based playlists.
“We are removing R. Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations such as Discover Weekly,” Spotify told Billboard in a statement. “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 behavior, 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.”
A representative for Spotify said that in addition to R. Kelly, rapper and singer XXXTentacion, who is facing charges in Florida that include aggravated battery of a pregnant woman and witness tampering, was also removed from playlists as of Thursday.
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Over the past several years, Kelly has been shrouded by sexual assault accusations from multiple women, and the latest controversy is that he’s running a “sex cult.”
Kelly has denied all claims, saying those currently accusing him are attempting “to distort my character and to destroy my legacy.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Prince, Spotify’s vp/head of content and marketplace policy, tells Billboard, “When we look at promotion, we look at issues around hateful conduct, where you have an artist or another creator who has done something off-platform that is so particularly out of line with our values, egregious, in a way that it becomes something that we don’t want to associate ourselves with,” he explained.
“So we’ve decided that in some circumstances, we may choose to not work with that artist or their content in the same way — to not program it, to not playlist it, to not do artist marketing campaigns with that artist.”
The hateful conduct provision is one part of the new policy, which also includes a provision for hate content.
“Hate content is 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,” the policy reads. “When we are alerted to content that violates our policy, we may remove it (in consultation with rights holders) or refrain from promoting or manually programming it on our service.”
With more than 35 million tracks on its service, Spotify has introduced a three-pronged reporting system to help with identifying hate content or hateful conduct, including internal monitoring from its teams already in place; consultations with expert partners, such as the advocacy groups it worked with to develop the policy; and user comments and reports.
The new guidelines for Spotify arrive in the midst of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements — which helped birth the #MuteRKelly initiative.
Meanwhile, critics who accuse R. Kelly of sexual misconduct are threatening to stage a protest at his upcoming show in North Carolina if it isn’t canceled.
Kelly’s management team issued a statement late Wednesday saying he was looking forward to the concert.
But Brandi Collins-Calhoun, director of reproductive and maternal health for the YWCA of Greensboro, said in a letter to the Greensboro Coliseum that if the show isn’t canceled, she and other community leaders will be standing outside the arena in protest.
“The Greensboro Coliseum choosing to host a repeat offender condones the continuous abuse and harm that he has done to African American women and girls, and encourages rape culture,” Collins-Calhoun wrote. “The coliseum has neglected to consider the Black women and girls that largely makes up the community that relies on them for community engagement and entertainment.”
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