Spotify has ended up in a tricky situation with the announcement that artists who display or promote certain behaviors would no longer be promoted by the streaming service, or be featured in any of their official playlists. R. Kelly, XXXTentacion, and Tay-K are among the first of the artists to have been hit by the change, and Spotify has been receiving some backlash for their decision, from artists such as 50 Cent and X.
Now, R. Kelly's team has responded to Spotify's changes, and they're not pleased. Kelly's management released a statement today, condemning Spotify for their decision.
"Mr. Kelly for 30 years has sung songs about his love and passion for women. He is innocent of the false and hurtful accusations in the ongoing smear campaign against him, waged by enemies seeking a payoff," says the statement.
The statement goes on to say that, while Spotify has the right to promote or not promote artists however it sees fit, in this instance their actions are unjust, as R. Kelly is not on trial for, and had not been convicted of, a crime.
"Meanwhile, though, Spotify promotes numerous other artists who are convicted felons," the statement continues, "others who have been arrested on charges of domestic violence and artists who sing lyrics that are violent and anti-women in nature."
Spotify claims that it decides which artists violate their new anti-hate policy on a "case-by-case basis," so it's currently unknown how many artists will eventually be affected by these changes. See the entire statement from R. Kelly's management, below.
