While the artist formerly known as Kanye West is being dropped left and right by various brands and relationships, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek claims his platform won’t remove Ye’s music over his “awful” anti-Semitic comments. Meanwhile, STEM has removed his music from their platform.
STEM Cuts Ties With Kanye West & Spotify CEO Condemns ‘Awful’ Anti-Semitic Comments, But Won’t Remove His Music
If you need a refresher, here is the current and growing list of brands and relationships that have severed ties with Ye: JP Morgan & Chase Bank; Balenciaga; GAP; Adidas; Footlocker; TheRealReal; TJ Maxx; Vogue & Anna Wintour; CAA; MRC; Camille Vasquez; and reportedly Def Jam.
Ye’s also been banned from social media platforms Instagram and Twitter, and a few of his Donda Sports clients (Jaylen Brown and Aaron Donald) have also left his side.
However, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek — who also condemned Ye’s “awful comments,” says that he would have pulled the rapper’s music from his platform — but he didn’t violate any policies that prohibit hate speech because he didn’t make his remarks via any podcasts or recordings uploaded under his artist name on their platform.
Ek adds, “It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy. It’s up to his label, if they want to take action or not.”
As mentioned, Ye’s label Def Jam via Universal Music — which owns copyright to his recordings from 2002 through 2016 — condemned his comments, stating, “There is no place for antisemitism in our society.” However, they have not pulled any music from any DSPs (digital streaming platforms).
Ek says if the labels makes the request to pull Ye’s catalog, “Obviously, we’ll respect their wishes.”
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As for STEM, they released a statement upon pulling Ye’s music from their platform over his anti-Semitic comments. They wrote:
“STEM was created and is owned by KANO, the educational computer company. We’ve removed Kanye’s music from our platform, and turned down his $10 million offer for our technology. Instead your money will go to a company that is focused on giving power to artists and the artist in everyone. Power based in truth and unity – not lies and hate. A portion of profits on the new STEM devices will go to the AL and NAACP. Thanks from all of us.”
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