"[These] two men are not the only abusers on your platform. We implore you to take a deeper look at the artists you promote," the organization's executive director Shaunna Thomas wrote in an open letter Monday to Spotify head Daniel Ek. "Every time a famous individual continues to be glorified despite allegations of abuse, we wrongly perpetuate silence by showing survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence that there will be no consequences for abuse," the group wrote. "That has a cultural effect far beyond one individual artist."
AJC: Women’s group wants Spotify to ban Chris Brown, Eminem, others https://t.co/A5TfbMrCAV
— Atlanta News (@AtlantaNewsFeed) May 15, 2018
Last week, Spotify announced a new policy to curb content that "expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability."
The policy change went into effect following a #MuteRKelly social media movement sparked by the multiple allegations of sex abuse against the artist. Spotify no longer actively promotes the artist's music, though the songs are still available on the service.
As of May 10, Kelly’s music was no longer be available on the site’s editorial or algorithmic playlists, including Discover Weekly, New Music Friday, RapCaviar and any of the platform’s popular genre- or mood-based playlists.
Apple Music and Pandora followed suit.
The Grammy-winning artist has been accused of many crimes over the years and allegedly "held women against their will in a cult" at his homes in two cities, including one in metro Atlanta. He has denied the accusations and is currently not facing any charges. In 2008, Kelly was acquitted on 14 charges of making child pornography.
In a statement to Billboard, Spotify said, "We don't censor content because of an artist's or creator's behavior, but we want our editorial decisions—what we choose to program—to reflect our values. When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator."
Campaigners call on Spotify to ban more artists over ‘hateful conduct’ https://t.co/HZi1XuIb62 pic.twitter.com/xeYt1vDIek
— CompleteMusicUpdate (@CMU) May 15, 2018
In response to the platform changes, Kelly's team told BuzzFeed News that Spotify's "actions are without merit" and are "based on false and unproven allegations."
Some of the musicians listed by Ultraviolet have been accused of sexual harassment, sexual abuse or domestic violence, but not all of them have been charged with a crime.
The group, which was founded in 2012, applauded Spotify's hate content and hateful conduct policy and hopes the open letter will urge other streaming platforms to follow Spotify's lead.
Read Ultraviolet's open letter to Spotify.
.@Spotify’s Ban on Hateful Content and Conduct Is ‘Too Subjective’ and ‘Concerning,’ Experts Say https://t.co/Ws37DALRY8
— Variety (@Variety) May 11, 2018
I don’t want my steaming service to be an arbiter of morality. Give me a way to ban artists I find morally objectionable. Even allow me to opt into a morality filter. Don’t force it upon me. @Spotify
— Charles J Franklin (@cjfranklin92) May 15, 2018
Go ahead and ban 50% of the artists on your service who are guilty of some bad behavior or ideas and see how long you stay in business. Already thinking of canceling subscription. It's a good intention, but it will not end well for your company.
— liz moore (@eamoore007) May 15, 2018
Spotify's ban on "hateful" content and conduct had at least one consequence it probably did not expect: Getting people to defend R. Kelly https://t.co/Ws37DALRY8 pic.twitter.com/s4yo9ZcEBA
— Variety (@Variety) May 11, 2018
OK so now they're looking to ban @chrisbrown from @Spotify playlists.Thing is, it's just playlists. A playlist.They're not banning singles/albums/features.So go ahead and ban them from the playlists but people are still gonna listen to the artists music.Playlist doesn't mean Jack
— Jordan Pass (@IamJordanPass) May 15, 2018
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