Now that R. Kelly has been convicted of horrifying crimes of sexual misconduct, should his music be banned?
After more than twenty years of horrifying and damning accusations, as of today R. Kelly is officially a convicted felon, having been found guilty by a New York jury of multiple counts of racketeering and sex-trafficking, with more trials to come in other jurisdictions. Almost immediately after the verdict was read, observers began asking: Now that he’s been found guilty, will his music be removed from major streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music? While reps for both companies did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment, that question brings in a host of moral, legal and logistical questions that were raised three years ago, when Spotify attempted to sanction Kelly’s music by banning it from the platform’s official playlists (while still continuing to host his music catalog on the services). To recap, in May of 2018, as the sexual-misconduct accusations that led to Kelly’s arrest amplified, Spotify attempted to institute a playlist-ban policy against music containing “hate speech” (such as songs with racist lyrics) and the much more loosely defined “hateful conduct,” directed at an artist or creator’s behavior in their personal lives, and clearly aimed at Kelly. Yet almost immediately after the policy was awkwardly announced, many pointed out that Kelly had not been proven guilty of anything, so why would his music be penalized? Rapper XXXTentacion (who would be murdered in a robbery just weeks later) was accused of strangling his pregnant girlfriend, shouldn’t his music be sanctioned too? Spotify quickly added XXXTentacion to the list. But what about the music of Phil Spector, a convicted murderer who produced and co-wrote some of the greatest hits of the early 1960s, ranging from “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Spanish Harlem” to “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and “To Know Him Is to Love Him”? What about Jim Gordon, co-writer with Eric Clapton of the 1970 classic “Layla,” who was convicted of murdering his mother during a psychotic episode in 1983 and remains incarcerated in California Medical Facility? All of their music remained and remains available and playlisted on major streaming services — as does the music of countless musicians, songwriters, producers and others accused or convicted of major, harmful crimes.
