INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Less than a month after announcing its &hateful content& and &hateful conduct& policy, Spotify is backing down from one half of the
Following staunch criticism, the company has issued updates to its guidelines, noting that the roll out arrived in contrast to the company
own longstanding policies
In a news release the company acknowledged that the initial implementation was &too vague,& creating confusion around precisely what shape
&We created concern that an allegation might affect artists& chances of landing on a Spotify playlist and negatively impact their future,&
&Some artists even worried that mistakes made in their youth would be used against them.&
The &hateful conduct& aspect focused on issues
involving artists& personal lives, and Spotify also appeared to make a point to single out two musicians — R
Kelly and XXXTentacion — in the process
CEO Daniel Ek apologized for that latter bit earlier this week and noted that the policy is continuing to evolve, as rumors surfaced that
XXXTentacion music would be added back into curated playlists
The company also clarified the &hateful content& part of the equation, while noting that it would continue to bar songs that fit the bill
&As we&ve done before, we will remove content that violates that standard,& Spotify explains
&We&re not talking about offensive, explicit, or vulgar content & we&re talking about hate speech.&
Spotify also promised to continue
working with artists and advocates in order to continually shape the policy.
