Spotify adjusts policy on ‘hateful behaviour’ artists

Spotify would no longer want to penalize artists by removing them from playlists for bad behavior in everyday life. Previously, R. Kelly and XXXTentacion’s music was removed from playlists, but Spotify would change the policy after complaints from artists.

According to unnamed sources, several major artists, including Kendrick Lamar, expressed their dissatisfaction with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Bloomberg says that. For example, Lamar would have called the Spotify CEO out of dissatisfaction with the decision to exclude XXXTentacion’s music from playlists compiled by Spotify and Discover Weekly. Lamar and others would also have threatened to remove music from Spotify.

In the conversations, Ek would then have indicated that the policy on hateful behavior will be moderated, and that XXXTentacion’s music will be put back on the playlists. However, Spotify declined to comment publicly on Bloomberg’s coverage.

The policy itself was initially announced publicly, with Spotify expressing its belief that its own playlists should promote the company’s values. In that policy, Spotify speaks out against hate speech and hateful behaviour. It is unclear whether the policy will now also be adjusted, because it is still online unchanged at the time of writing. According to Bloomberg sources, the changes are still being discussed internally.