Earlier this month, Spotify made headlines after introducing its new conduct policy. The policy allows the streaming platform to remove artists from their curated playlists that allegedly engage in or are convicted of exhibiting harmful or abusive behavior. This policy resulted in R. Kelly, XXXTentacion and and a few other artists being removed from Spotify’s major playlists such as “Rap Caviar” and “Are & Be”. In response, R. Kelly and XXXTentacion fired back at the streaming service in separate statements. Other major figures in Hip-Hop such as Punch of TDE also weighed in on the situation by tweeting, “Whoa. Are they censoring the music? That’s dangerous.”
After nearly two weeks of enacting its policy, it looks like XXXTentacion could find himself back on Spotify’s major playlists. According to a report from Bloomberg, “the music-streaming giant has told artists, managers and record-label executives that it will eventually restore songs by XXXTentacion to playlists.” Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg added, “the company’s top executives are talking to the music industry and civil-rights activists about how and when to adjust its rules in a manner suitable to both sides.”
While it appears that the policy will be repealed, it is still unclear on when it will be repealed and how exactly it will be changed. Moreover, the report from Bloomberg is specifically focused on XXXTentacion, so it is unclear on how the policy will affect R. Kelly’s standing on the streaming platform. We will keep you up to date as this story develops.
