R.Kelly and XXXTentacion Removed From Spotify playlists!
With the advent of streaming, the rules of rap game have been jostled once again. After the Vinyl, then the cassettes, and finally the CDs, the rapper is due to face a new format of diffusion and consumption of their music: the digital one. So, "finished" physical sales (even if some still make very good scores in physics), ended the endless deals with some record companies for the number of copies they must make of your album. The music comes directly to the listener via a streaming platform.
Thus, Those platforms are now the ones setting rules for the rap game, for which they're one of the biggest sponsors. A privileged position that allows them some very political moves, like for example, removing XXX Tentaction and R Kelly, and even Tay-K.
Like any media, the Spotify streaming platform decides what will or will not be available to the listener. And so far, the platform had quite wide tastes and a tolerance threshold high enough. But, as you know, recently things have changed, "The Word is out" , and many artists have been tangled up in court cases of rape, harassment, or physical abuse of women.
R.Kelly is currently being tried for several serious crimes, who would have founded a sexual sect promising his slaves that they would break into music if they were nice to him. It is recalled that proven facts of pedophilia were also committed by the singer. A recidivist therefore, not like XXXTentacion, who arrives in the middle of the mistreatment and the harassment since he is in judgment for having attacked a pregnant woman.
Obviously, we can only rejoice and approve the fact that Spotify uses its right to clean up its playslists, because of acts that it considers contrary to its values. Especially since it does not remove them completely from its service, just from its playlists to hundreds of thousands of subscribers, the ones we offer on the homepage. Same for XXXTentacion which is also removed from playlists, but still available.
Decisions that we think are good, especially since they do not exclude artists from the platform, which would have been a little abusive. We can very well assume the fact of loving the music of 2 big "bastards" of the worst kind, as were Wagner or Bertrand Cantat, who are also always on Spotify, while keeping in mind things they did. Remove them from playlists and thus remove them from the visibility, a nice part of income seems to us quite intelligent. Chris Brown, who also likes to hit the opposite sex, may soon be removed from Playlists as well.
In short, many changes to come on the platform, which is currently the only one to have implemented its policy. We just hope it's not going to drift into "I do not agree with you so I'll take you out of the playlists", which would look like a dictatorship. Especially since it's a little to take people for morons: at the time of continuous information, they know that the artist they listen to has done bad things, no need to be guide. In short, stay alert.