Spotify announced yesterday that it would no longer carry any of R. Kelly‘s music on its featured playlists — and now we’re learning more music streaming services are dropping R. Kelly like a bad habit.
Apple Music and Pandora have ceased any sort of promotion of the R&B singer/songwriter/producer on their platforms. And, as part of Spotify’s new Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy, he’s no longer part of that streaming platform’s campaigns either.
R. Kelly has reportedly been removed from Apple Music playlists including Best Slow Jams of the 90s, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. However, he still appears on seven playlists highlighting his own music including R. Kelly Essentials, R. Kelly: Influences and Inspired by R. Kelly. Baby steps, I guess?
Pandora is said to have removed R. Kelly from promoted content as well. A rep from the company told Pitchfork: Pandora’s policy is to not actively promote artists with certain demonstrable behavioral, ethical or criminal issues. We approach each of these scenarios on a case-by-case basis to ensure we address components true to Pandora’s principles while not overreaching and avoiding censorship.
Of course, they only made this change after Spotify did, so who’s to say how reliable that policy really is.
Spotify’s VP/Head of Content Jonathan Prince has a similar outlook: I think that, frankly, all of us have become increasingly aware of the responsibility that we have when we make recommendations about content, and particularly when we’re doing that in a way that may send signals to our audience about what we believe and what we value.
Spotify promised it will continue to evolve its approach to these types of ethical situations. And it seems as though Apple Music and Pandora are following suit.
