Spotify removes artist R. Kelly from playlists

Swedish online music group Spotify has announced that it has removed artist R. Kelly's music from her playlists on Thursday (May 10th), citing her new content and hate behavior charter. This decision was made ten days after the Time's Up call to "cut the bridges" with the singer, accused of sexual violence for several years.

This is the first case of the application of the new charter of Spotify, which now reserves the possibility of changing the exposure of an artist on his platform based on criteria unrelated to his music.

The platform, however, defends itself from "censoring content because of the conduct of an artist or creator. But we want our editorial decisions - what we choose to program - to reflect our values. Thus, in some circumstances, when an artist or creator does something particularly dangerous or hateful (for example, child abuse and sexual violence), it may affect how we work or support that artist or that person. creator, " said a spokesperson for Spotify.

R. Kelly's music will still be available on Spotify, but will no longer appear in platform-generated playlists and in user-based proposals based on algorithms. The charter will apply to songs that R. Kelly performs solo or with other artists, such as Same Girl , which he wrote for Usher. But the songs he wrote for other artists, like Michael Jackson, will not be affected.

Accused of sexual violence
R. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been accused of sexual violence against women for years, even though he denies it and has never been convicted. The 51-year-old singer and producer, author of the hit I Believe I Can Fly , was also charged with pornography involving minors in 2002 but acquitted in 2008.

According to a July 2017 investigation by the Buzzfeed news site, the singer has also been accused of having quasi-sex slaves at his homes in Chicago, Illinois and Atlanta, Georgia, even though the allegations published , denied by the singer, have resulted in no charge.

A lawsuit was recently filed against him by the police in Dallas, Texas, by a woman who claims he infected her with a sexually transmitted disease without warning that he was a carrier. An investigation was opened in April.

Other singers striped playlists
Spotify's decision was hailed by the #MuteRKelly movement (" shut up R. Kelly"), who called for "cutting the bridges" with the singer. "It's important that those who market the work of problematic artists ultimately agree with the collective values ​​of their business," he wrote in a statement. We find that Spotify's decision is a victory, and this is just another step in our mission to silence R. Kelly. "

But she is not unanimous. "R. Kelly has never been accused of hatred and his lyrics express love and desire," responded the singer's team in a statement to several US media. The entourage of R. Kelly also recalled that Spotify "promoted other artists" sentenced by justice, arrested for domestic violence or who "sing lyrics violent and hostile to women by nature" , which is not not the case of the singer from Chicago.

His relatives also accused Spotify of acting "on the basis of false and unconfirmed allegations" , " bowing to the whims of social networks" and "choosing one's side" in a "nothing to do" case. with the consumer service " .

R. Kelly is not the only artist to have been dropped from Spotify's playlists. The rapper XXXtentacion's music, which must be judged for beating his pregnant wife, was also removed. Others might follow , such as Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to beating his ex-girlfriend Rihanna a few years earlier.