Spotify has removed singer R Kelly’s music from all of its playlists under a new hateful conduct policy.
The music-streaming service said it will not "actively promote" artists whose behaviour does not "reflect our values".
The American artist has been accused of sexual misconduct and assault by a string of women, all of which he has denied.
On Thursday Spotify announced it would no longer promote Kelly’s music, thought to be the first artist to fall under its new policy.
While his music will still be available on the service, it will be removed from Spotify’s curated playlists and playlists that use algorithms to recommend artists based on previous selections.
"We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, but we want our editorial decisions – what we choose to program – to reflect our values," Spotify told website Billboard.
"When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator."
AFP
Spotify’s announcement comes in the aftermath of a "#MuteRKelly" campaign, which calls for anyone currently profiting from Kelly and his music to cut all ties with him.
The campaign is backed by the "Times Up" movement, which was set up to offer funding for sexual assault victims to take legal action.
Time’s Up said it has called for "appropriate investigations… into the allegations of R Kelly’s abuse made by women of colour."
Last week Kelly’s team hit out at the campaign, accusing it of an "attempted public lynching of a black man".
In a statement they said: “R Kelly supports the pro-women goals of the Time’s Up movement. We understand criticizing a famous artist is a good way to draw attention to those goals — and in this case, it is unjust and off-target”.
"I think that, frankly, all of us have become increasingly aware of the responsibility that we have when we make recommendations about content, and particularly when we’re doing that in a way that may send signals to our audience about what we believe and what we value," said Jonathan Prince, Spotify’s head of content.
"So we thought it was really past time for us to take a really over-arching look at that. These are really complicated issues and this is our first iteration of a really comprehensive policy. We’re going to continue to try to evolve our approach to these things."
The music service said it acknowledge there were different cultural standards in the 50 countries in which it operates, adding it had worked with advocacy groups to establish what it defined as "hate content".
"Hate content is content that expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability," the policy states.
The company said it has also created a monitoring tool for users to help it screen for hate content.