Spotify is renouncing their recent policy that banned artists who have engaged in "hateful conduct" from being promoted on official playlists.
"While we believe our intentions were good, the language was too vague, we created confusion and concern, and didn’t spend enough time getting input from our own team and key partners before sharing new guidelines," a spokesperson for the company revealed in a statement.
However, Spotify will continue to remove any music that proudly showcases any "hate content" from its expansive catalogue of recordings. "Spotify does not permit content whose principal purpose is to incite hatred or violence against people because of their race, religion, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. As we’ve done before, we will remove content that violates that standard. We’re not talking about offensive, explicit, or vulgar content – we’re talking about hate speech."
Furthermore, the company notes how they will "continue to seek ways to impact the greater good and further the industry we all care so much about We believe Spotify has an opportunity to help push the broader music community forward through conversation, collaboration and action. We’re committed to working across the artist and advocacy communities to help achieve that."
Kendrick Lamar has been critical of the decision, as the rapper allegedly contemplated removing all TDE recordings from the streaming giant in solidarity with XXXTentacion, who saw his music pulled from promoted playlists due to his questionable behaviour.