Spotify won't remove Kanye 'Ye' West's music despite condemning antisemitic remarks
Ye's label Def Jam, which distributed his music until last year and owns the copyrights to much of his music, has not asked for it to be removed from the platform
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Spotify this week condemned antisemitic comments made be Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, but said the platform would not remove his music.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told Reuters Ye’s comments, including that he would go "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE," were "just awful" but said he didn’t violate the company’s anti-hate policies because none of the remarks were made on Spotify.
He said Ye’s label Def Jam would have to request to have the music pulled.
"It's really just his music [on Spotify], and his music doesn't violate our policy," Ek told Reuters. "It's up to his label, if they want to take action or not."
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Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair / Getty Images)
The pressure on streaming platforms like Spotify to remove his music comes as companies such as Adidas and Gap have ended their relationships with his fashion brand Yeezy following the remarks, which were made on social media in the last few weeks.
In this photo illustration the streaming service logo Spotify seen displayed on a smartphone next to a pair of earphones. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ye also wore a "White Lives Matter" shirt at his Oct. 3 fashion show in Paris. His talent agency CAA has dropped him as well and MRC Entertainment shelved a finished documentary about the rapper-turned-designer.
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Spotify CEO Daniel Ek attends a game between the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers on February 25, 2022 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," Adidas said in a statement. "Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."
His music can still be found on Apple Music and YouTube Music.
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Def Jam also condemned Ye’s statements, saying, "There is no place for antisemitism in our society" but hasn’t asked for the removal of his music.
Spotify stood by top podcaster Joe Rogan earlier this year when artists like Neil Young began removing their music from the platform after accusing Rogan of putting out coronavirus misinformation on his show. Rogan later said he would try to have more balanced information on his show.