While we don’t believe in censoring content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, we want our editorial decisions—what we choose to program—to reflect our values. | | | | Arctic Monkeys, pictured last week in Los Angeles, release "Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino" today on Domino.
(Timothy Norris/Getty Images) | | | | | | “While we don’t believe in censoring content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, we want our editorial decisions—what we choose to program—to reflect our values.”
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| | rantnrave:// Has SPOTIFY opened an enormous can of worms with its new policy on "Hate Content and Hateful Conduct"? Should we welcome those worms? And is it Solomonic, hypocritical or both to say you're going to continue to include "hateful" artists in your service but not actively promote them? If you answer "yes, yes and yes," I might well not argue with you. Worms everywhere. (Spotify: "These are complicated issues... We'll make some mistakes, and we'll learn from them.") The "conduct" piece of the policy, under which Spotify announced on Thursday that it will no longer include R. KELLY or XXXTENTACION in any of its own playlists (both editorial and algorithmic), is the one that drew immediate scrutiny, though both parts are simultaneously vague and broad enough to raise questions and eyebrows. The first half targets offensive songs; the second half, offensive people. The former may or may not be removed from the service completely, Spotify says, depending on "the entire context." The latter, Spotify appears to be saying, will continue to live in the service but won't be actively promoted. There are many, many questions to ask. The most obvious one, perhaps, which XXXTentacion spokeswoman AISHAH WHITE did ask, is: What about DAVID BOWIE, DR. DRE, LED ZEPPELIN, MICHAEL JACKSON, etc. etc. etc.? Where do you draw that line, Spotify? What do you do about CHRIS BROWN? Do you retroactively apply or not? Is "IGNITION (REMIX)" still a jam or not? Should TV networks continue to air "THE COSBY SHOW" and how is, or isn't, this different? Do you wait for a conviction or not? How will you deal with metal? Or hip-hop? Or country? What exactly does it mean to promote an artist on the internet, or on the radio, or on a concert stage? What message are editors, programmers and curators sending when they do so? What message should they be sending? Do we want to police art? Do we want to police artists? Is there a difference? I have a thousand more questions, and my feelings are deeply mixed here, and my right brain is saying "yes" and my left brain is saying "but..." and my middle brain has an unwritten list of artists that will probably never be promoted *here* but also I have one essential business question, which I ask without intending any judgment: Why say anything at all? Why not just quietly stop promoting Kelly and XXXTentacion and BRAND NEW and CRYSTAL CASTLES and PWR BTTM and DUCKTAILS and anything produced by DETAIL and, wait, I could go on but I'm running out of space, but anyway, what's the business case for publicly announcing that find you them hateful? What's the moral case? Which is stronger?... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from ARCTIC MONKEYS, BEACH HOUSE, PLAYBOI CARTI, JUNGLEPUSSY, CHARLIE PUTH, WAJATTA, SSION, TEE GRIZZLEY, BRENT COBB, RY COODER, SIMONE DINNERSTEIN, MARK KOZELEK, REVERORUM IB MALACHT, THE BODY, SKI MASK THE SLUMP GOD, SARAH LOUISE, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, MARIAN HILL, JESS WILLIAMSON, BAD WOLVES, LUKE WINSLOW-KING, SKINLESS, LA LUZ, THE SEA AND CAKE, MAGIC NUMBERS, ASHLEY CAMPBELL, SEVENDUST and RSO... RIP KATO KHANDWALA. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| The streaming service announced it would no longer promote artists it finds to be out of line with its values. | | |
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| His quest to receive proper compensation illuminates the struggle for artists’ rights, and how decades-old grievances become coded into rock and roll mythology. | | |
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| Two Native American metalheads were kicked off a campus tour last week by a white woman who feared their brown skin and black T-shirts. That fear is nothing new. | | |
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| From counted out to counted on: The rapper’s new freedom comes with reality’s nightmare — and a chance to change lives. | | |
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| YouTube announces its first-ever trending music chart, with more to come. | | |
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| Eurovision is known for being over-the-top, not on point, but this year’s front-runners tackle political subjects. | | |
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| As the legendary singer-songwriter and musical icon winds down his career with a farewell tour, a new book examines his life, career, and complicated relationship to creation, his collaborators, and other cultures. | | |
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| Rarely does a century-old musical instrument drive policy in Washington, but that’s exactly what’s happening in the music community at this moment. | | |
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| Off Camera with Sam Jones |
| Jason joins Off Camera to discuss the moment he discovered that he was a songwriter, how there’s no such thing as writer’s block, and why it’s cool to walk around with his pants down (emotionally, that is). | | |
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| In response to #MuteRKelly, Spotify stopped promoting his music on its playlists. Yes, we should cheer this. And yet: it’s all so complicated. How do we treat Bad Men’s past work? | | |
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| The music industry careens fast down the highway, stacked high with cargo and shiny objects. Think of the old CD business as the flat bed, the current digital industry as its loosely tethered, bulky freight, and artist-driven initiatives as sparkly crates hitched on top. Yet all are tied together in a zigzag of relationships and common building blocks. | | |
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| We pay tribute to the thrash titans, who are calling it quits with a final world tour after their nearly four-decade reign. | | |
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| The Danish group's new album "Beyondless" is wonderful. Iceage are the greatest rock and roll band in the world. | | |
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| The Monster Tour was successful, but it had potential to match Beyoncé and Jay Z's On The Run Tour. | | |
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| It's been twenty years since DMX's debut record-one that established one of hip-hop's most aggressive, honest, and bark-iest rappers. Here's how it came to be. | | |
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| Charlie Puth is ridiculous, but more importantly, he is meticulous. His music is toothless, but his commitment to that music and its spoils is ruthless. | | |
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| ADA boss Eliah Seton on his rise through the music industry, and the future for distribution and services companies. | | |
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| The bands play on a 360 degree stage. Fans stand against crash barriers erected on each side. The result is complete pandemonium. | | |
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| "First Day Out" is the perfect inspirational hood story — told through 80 straight bars with no hook. A poverty-stricken aspiring emcee and college student who's tired of being broke decides to set it off. You don't have to have had committed a crime or stood trial to relate to the lyrics; the song speaks raw and beautifully to anyone who has faced adversity. | | |
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| The years start coming and they don't stop coming but Smash Mouth's "All-Star" has remained relevant for nearly 20 years. We talk with songwriter Greg Camp to see if crafting the perfect pop is science or chance. | | |
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| | | | | | | From "Casual High Technology," out today on Comedy Dynamics. |
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