Cyrus Langhorne
Streaming giant Spotify might have just made every XXXTentacion fan jump for joy. The digital powerhouse has released a revamped new policy update following weeks of controversy.
On Friday, Spotify released a more detailed and clear-cut explanation to what type of music it will now censor from playlists.
Some reports claim previously banned musicians like XXXTentacion had been re-added to playlists.
Following up on Daniel Ek’s mea culpa and other announcements, hints and pantomimes, Spotify has posted a notice regarding an update of its “new policy around hate content and conduct.” Simultaneously there came word that XXXtentacion had been restored to the ultra-important Rap Caviar playlist. (HITS Daily Double)
Last month, music executive Steve Stoute shared his personal issues with streaming giants like Spotify not playing fair in banning artists like R. Kelly.
“When I seen XXXTentacion and R. Kelly get pulled off of playlists on Spotify, I thought, at that moment in time, ‘Where does this go?’ Are you doing this because, are they convenient or is this policy? That’s the problem. Don’t do anything. Do you want to be happy or do you want to be right? … It’s actually unfortunate that Spotify is now the guy standing in front of all this, when other streaming services have followed suit. Don’t we always separate the art from the artist? Haven’t we always done that? So, if you’re going to make it a policy, then I have to start going through the list and now it’s not convenient, because now we gotta be like, ‘How about this, we’re f*cking not playing Michael Jackson.’ I mean, we’re just not.” (Hot 97)
Recently, Top Dawg Entertainment’s Punch weighed-in on streaming services censoring musicians.
As for the new policy itself, Top Dawg Entertainment President Punch responded, “Whoa. Are they censoring the music? That’s dangerous. It’s a super-sensitive topic; a conversation needs to be had. There are way too many variables.” This was underscored by multiple reports of demands from activists to remove other artists from playlists; the organization Ultraviolet, for example, called for both Chris Brown and Eminem to be similarly moved off Spotify’s main real estate. (HITS Daily Double)
