When contacted by the New York Times, a representative for XXXTentacion responded: “I don’t have a comment, just a question.”
On Thursday morning, Spotify released its new policy designed to keep artists who engage in “hate speech” and “hateful conduct” off its platform. Or, at least not promoted through playlists.
Initially, the only named artist was R. Kelly, who has been accused of sexual misconduct over several decades (though not convicted). The policy has since been extended to XXXTentacion, who is facing charges in Florida for aggravated battery of a pregnant woman as well as witness tampering. His album, 17, is no longer featured on Spotify, nor does it show up on an official playlist.
When contacted by the New York Times, a representative for XXXTentacion responded: “I don’t have a comment, just a question. Will Spotify remove all the artists listed below from playlists?”
He then went on to list 19 other artists by name, many of which have not been convicted or accused of the offenses he lists:
- Gene Simmons (sexual battery)
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers (sexual assault)
- David Bowie (rape allegations)
- Real Estate (sexual misconduct)
- Backstreet Boys (Nick Carter – sexual assault)
- Ozzy Osbourne (domestic abuse)
- Ace of Base (founding member is a Neo-Nazi)
- Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (rape of minor)
- James Brown (domestic abuse)
- Michael Jackson (sexual abuse of minor)
- Miles Davis (domestic abuse)
- Sid Vicious (domestic violence/murder)
- Dr. Dre (domestic abuse)
- 6ix9ine (sexual misconduct w/ minor)
- Nelly (sexual assault)
- Miguel (sexual misconduct)
- Trey Songz (domestic violence)
- Fabolous (domestic violence)
The original tweet can be found here.
Spotify is not just looking at music artists, but all artists that have a place on the Spotify platform.
For example, Pwr Bttm, Ducktails, and comedians such as Bill Cosby and Louis C.K. have all been accused of sexual misconduct. As a result, they have all been removed from Spotify playlists in the past recent months.
Many artists, including XXXTentacion it would seem, are questioning the subjectivity of the term “hate conduct” as it could apply to many artists. The policy reads as follows,
“To help us identify hate content, we have partnered with rights advocacy groups to help identify content on our platform that has been flagged as hate content on specific international registers. And we listen to our users – if you think something is hate content, please let us know and we will review it carefully against our policy.”
What does this new policy mean for some of your favorite artists? S potify is still working on that. According to XXXTentacion’s rep, Spotify is looking at things on a “case by case basis.”
this is what you get when you beat up women.