Spotify Takes Stand Against R. Kelly With New ‘Hateful Conduct’ Policy
Don't be surprised if you can't find R. Kelly's music on any of Spotify's playlists moving forward -- it won't be there.
Beginning Thursday, May 10, Spotify users will no longer be able to find the rapper's music on the streaming service's playlists. The company will no longer promote the controversial RCA Records-signed artist's discography as part of a progressive new hate content and hateful conduct policy. R. Kelly's music will subsequently be banned from inclusion on any of the service's flagship playlists, including RapCaviar and New Music Friday.
"We are removing R. Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations such as Discover Weekly," Spotify told Billboard. "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."
R. Kelly is so far the only artist Spotify has acknowledged will be affected by its new initiative. Spotify's decision comes just weeks after the launch of the #MuteRKelly movement on Twitter in April.
The rapper stands accused of multiple counts of sexual violence, pedophilia, as well as running a sex cult.