Spotify is reportedly rethinking its ‘hateful conduct’ policy

Spotify caused a stir when it unveiled its “hateful conduct” policy earlier this month. Now, a few weeks later, it’s reportedly already rethinking the tact, after pushback from artists and inside the company itself.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, the streaming service has been in discussions to reinstate at least one of the artists it singled out when it announced a policy that would pull artists from editorial-curated playlists for actions outside of music.

“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,” the company wrote on May 10. “When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful (for example, violence against children and sexual violence), it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.”

In particular, Spotify seemingly went out of its way to single out R. Kelly and rapper XXXTentacion. The latter had been pulled from the service’s popular Rap Caviar playlists after video emerged of the rapper striking a woman — the latest in a line of assault claims.

But new reports claim that Spotify will eventually bring XXXTentacion back to its curated playlists as it works to negotiate new terms. R. Kelly, however, appears to still be on the outs.

We’ve reached out to Spotify for comment.