Women’s Advocacy Group Slams Spotify for Hateful Conduct Policy Reversal
Women's advocacy group, UltraViolet, is slamming Spotify after the streaming music service moved away from implementing its controversial hateful conduct policy. The group says Spotify is putting "profits over people" by adding the music of R. Kelly, XXXTentacion and more back to its promoted playlists.
"Two weeks ago, Spotify declared that, 'we want our editorial decisions—what we choose to program—to reflect our values.' Now, we know exactly what those values are: profits over people, and music industry bigwigs over survivors of abuse," UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas wrote in a statement, as reported by Billboard.
"When music platforms promote abusers, they allow those abusers to reap in profits, lining their pockets in royalties and expanding their fan bases," the statement continues. "This normalizes violence against women. Spotify’s values are now clear for all to see: Abusers take priority over survivors of their crimes. We will not forget their decision."
Spotify announced on June 1 it would be reversing its policy, saying it is not aiming to play "judge and jury" and its role isn't to regulate artists. "Therefore, we are moving away from implementing a policy around artist conduct," the statement from Spotify reads.
The streaming service also admits the language of the original policy was vague and says it "left too many elements open to interpretation." Following the introduction of the original policy, the move was met with backlash, as many called it a slippery slope and one label even threatened to pull its music from the service.