Spotify Announces As With Joe Rogan, They Won’t be Canceling Kanye West’s Music

Spotify has again triggered leftists by recently announcing that it won’t be removing Kanye West “Ye” from its music catalog.

In a statement to Reuters, CEO Daniel Ek said that in regards to Ye, “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,” Ek explained as he added that Ye’s comments would have been pulled from Spotify if he had made them on a podcast or recording, as per their hate speech policy, but that the rapper hadn’t made such comments.

Leftist Twitter user Dan Collier slammed the decision and declared in a tweet, “Until @Spotify removes Kanye West, Ye or whatever his name is tomorrow from their platform, I will choose another source.”

“Anti-Semitism has no place in a civil society. I hope others will choose to do the same,” Collier urged.

Until @Spotify removes Kanye West, Ye or whatever his name is tomorrow from their platform, I will choose another source. Anti-Semitism has no place in a civil society. I hope others will choose to do the same.

— Dan Collier (@dtcollier54) October 26, 2022

As for Spotify’s competitor, Apple Music, it has not removed Ye’s music either, however, it did remove his Essentials Playlist.

Thus far, the company has not weighed in on the controversy, although Apple Music has “#BlackLivesMatter” in its Twitter bio.

According to the LA Times, industry analysts say the decision to take down Ye’s music is complicated by several factors, including contract requirements streamers may have with record labels and publishers, free speech considerations, and whether it is appropriate to take action against an artist’s behavior outside of their music.

Bryan Sullivan, a founding partner at law firm Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP, said that while the 1st Amendment does not bar music streaming services from removing West’s music, there could be contracts in place that would require Spotify or Apple Music to go to the music publisher or recording company to get permission to amend their agreement to remove those songs, the Times also reported.