![]() In the end, artists like Kendrick Lamar stared down Spotify, and Spotify blinked, changing course on the policy. ![]() And then there was the third group, of which I was a part of, who mostly thought, “letting the world know you’re not going to promote two artists of color while saying nothing of the countless white artists who were also trash is pretty gross.” Others argued that the decision was just a fancy virtue signal sure, they weren’t promoting these two artists anymore, but they were continuing to make money for and off of them. Kelly was a good thing, a small step against a man many feel shouldn’t have a career altogether. Kelly, had their music pulled from promoted Spotify playlists, but not pulled from the service altogether, as was the case with music from white nationalist acts last year. See, the Florida rapper was one of two artists targeted earlier this year by Spotify’s hateful conduct policy I’d love to link you to said policy, but for whatever reason Spotify’s PR site is down, so you’ll just have to read the initial Billboard story about it. Given the history of the service and XXX, it’s weird, maybe even a little gross, that they’re continuing to profit off him, even in death. Which is to say, odds are good that right now there’s an algorithm tracking the number of plays XXXTentacion is getting and delivering a report to a middle manager somewhere letting them know about how good a day they’re having, serving ads and having their stream count rise on the back of his death. It’s how we grieve for a life lost, whether it be from one gone too soon or from one that was long and well lived or anything in between. Now it means having their music streamed for hours on end. ![]() Then it meant that downloads of their work would spike. When it comes to music, that used to mean that their albums and CDs would fly off shelves. It’s a truth across all mediums: when an artist dies, interest in his or her work skyrockets. ![]()
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