Spotify Calls Off ‘Hateful Conduct’ Policy Removing Artists From Playlists

Spotify decided to cancel the “hateful conduct” policy that removed songs from artists accused of crimes like sexual violence or domestic assault from its playlists.

“Spotify recently shared a new policy around hate content and conduct. And while we believe our intentions were good, the language was too vague, we created confusion and concern, and didn’t spend enough time getting input from our own team and key partners before sharing new guidelines,” Spotify said in a statement. “Across all genres, our role is not to regulate artists. Therefore, we are moving away from implementing a policy around artist conduct.”

The statement also clarified that the company will continue to remove hate speech, defined as anything “whose principal purpose is to incite hatred or violence against people because of their race, religion, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”

The initial decision came when the #MuteRKelly campaign, an online effort to get R. Kelly shows canceled, was gathering momentum. Spotify made the call to remove music by artists that were getting negative attention – Like R. Kelly and XXXTentacion, as well as PWR Bttm, Ducktails, Bill Cosby and Louis C.K., according to Variety – from its playlists.

There was a strong backlash to Spotify’s decision, as XXXTentacion replied to the decision with a statement: “I don’t have a comment, just a question. Will Spotify remove the artists listed below from playlists?” and then proceeded to name more than a dozen popular artists who have been accused of sexual battery, assault, or rape, including James Brown, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Jackson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gene Simmons of KISS and Miles Davis.