After being kicked off of Twitter and Instagram (although he’s unbanned from Twitter now), American rapper Ye, better known as Kanye West, has had his Apple Music Essentials playlist removed by the Cupertino-based company, as reported by Rolling Stones. This comes as a result of Ye’s recent antisemitic statements and anti-black rhetoric.
It’s worth noting that only the ‘Kanye West Essentials’ artist playlist and the ‘Kanye West Video Essentials’ playlist have been removed by Apple Music. Artist-specific essential playlists feature the most prominent and influential songs from the artist’s entire career. His full discography remains intact on the music streaming platform.
The move from Apple makes its music streaming service the first to take action against Ye’s comments and might pave the way for other music streaming services to follow suit. Spotify, however, has made it clear that it wouldn’t remove the artist’s music, “unless his label requested it,” according to Reuters. “It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy,” said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. “It’s up to his label if they want to take action or not.”
West has spent most of his career with Def Jam Recordings, concluding his contract with the Donda album last year. While he is no longer signed to Def Jam, the label and its parent company Universal Music Group remain responsible for maintaining his catalogue of music.
“There is no place for antisemitism in our society. We are deeply committed to combating antisemitism and every other form of prejudice,” said Universal Music Group in a statement following Ye’s antisemitic statements.
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Source: Rolling Stones
