Fans no doubt remember Spotify's "Hateful Conduct Policy," in which the streaming giant took a stand against artists accused of morally reprehensible crimes. Now, it would appear a misguided attempt at appearing virtuous has come back to bite them in the ass, at least in the eyes of several users. NME reports that Spotify has since returned X's music to Rap Caviar, going so far as to make "Sad!" and "Moonlight" the opening two tracks of the playlist. As it happens, the move has raised eyebrows from X fans, who feel that the company is making a very hypocritical decision, especially given their previous attempt at taking "the moral high ground" at X's expense.
Though we have to remember that Spotify is indeed a business, who undoubtedly sought to capitalize on the inevitable increase in XXXTentacion streams, the posthumous promotion of X's music does seem hypocritical on a moral level. The company was willing to fall on their sword in their effort against hateful conduct, where X was initially branded as a scapegoat of sorts. His music, chiefly the ? single "Sad!" was subsequently removed from all official Spotify playlists, including the highly popular "Rap Caviar." After receiving near-universal backlash from fan and artist alike, they ultimately reversed their decision, citing the rollout as "botched."
To be fair, social media users are generally quick to anger, and will express outrage at anything and everything if given the proper chance. To be fair, there is most certainly a case to be made here. If Spotify previously felt that X's music should be removed from their playlist, putting him front and center after his passing is tacky at best, callous at worst.
RIP X.
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