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Music from the artist now known as Ye did not
violate anti-hate policies, Spotify chief Daniel Ek told
Reuters.
Recent antisemitic remarks made by the rapper are "just awful
comments," and would have warranted removal from Spotify for
violating its policies, which prohibit hate speech, if they had
been on a podcast or recording, Ek said.
But none of that content can be found on Spotify.
"It's really just his music, and his music doesn't violate our
policy," said Ek, adding, "It's up to his label, if they want to
take action or not."
That has not happened.
Universal Music's Def Jam label, which owns the copyright to
West's recordings from 2002 through 2016, and continued
distributing his releases until last year, issued a statement
condemning Ye's remarks, saying "There is no place for
antisemitism in our society".
It did not ask for the removal of Ye's recordings, many of which
are critically acclaimed works. The music also can be found on
Apple Music and YouTube Music.
Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel called for the major
streaming services to end their business relationships with Ye
after the rapper promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories in
interviews and on social media, where he Tweeted that he would
go "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE."
Since the remarks, Ye has lost high profile and lucrative
partnerships. Creative Artists Agency, one of the world's
largest talent agencies, no longer represents him, film and
television studio MRC Entertainment has dropped a documentary
and sneaker-maker Adidas on Tuesday ended a partnership
estimated to be worth more than $500 million in royalty payments
and other fees.
Spotify, however, has faced backlash when it punished musicians
for their personal misconduct.
The streaming service removed R Kelly's music from its playlists
and recommendations in 2018 following allegations of sexual
misconduct. It walked back the policy after other artists
threatened boycotts, giving users a mute button to block
particular artists, instead.
If Ye's label asks for the rapper's catalog to be removed, Ek
said, "Obviously we'll respect their wishes."
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles.; Editing by Shri
Navaratnam)
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