Spotify’s Mute Button Is a Stop-Gap, Not a Solution

Michelle Kim
As debates over problematic artists rage on, Spotify’s new policy seems like a useful tool for listeners. But longterm, it’s a cop-out for the streaming giant.

With little fanfare, Spotify rolled out a new feature this week that allows users to mute musicians. Go to any artist page on the Spotify mobile app and select the “don’t play this artist” option in the menu bar. Blocked artists will still be available via the service, but their songs will be skipped automatically in editorial and algorithmic playlists, radio stations, and users’ personal libraries.

The function is being positioned by users and the press as a practical tool for dealing with “problematic artists,” those whose alleged actions or divisive politics have turned even casual fandom into an ethical quandary. When getting #MeToo-ed does not necessarily mean getting dropped by major labels (just look at how long it took RCA to deal with R. Kelly), the focus for consumers starts to shift toward controlling what is within their power: their own listening habits and personal bans. Though the mute feature is a moral cop-out for Spotify, it at least acknowledges the complicated reality of an important issue the streaming giant tried, and failed, at solving through vague policy.

Spotify’s short-lived Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy rolled out last May, mostly in the form of R. Kelly and XXXTentacion being removed from both curated and algorithmic playlists. “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,” a Spotify rep explained at the time. The policy was met with much criticism from artists, industry figures, and even users who liked the concept but found the execution unclear. Top Dawg CEO Anthony Tiffith called it a form of censorship and threatened to pull Kendrick Lamar and his labelmates from the service. Spotify quickly retreated, returning XXX’s “SAD!” to RapCaviar post-haste.

While Spotify made a powerful initial statement by not promoting two prominent alleged abusers, their murky policy did not account for the complex questions that accompany such a move: Why only those two artists? Is there a statute of limitations of who should be “cancelled”? And who is playing judge in these cases? Having failed at outlining a comprehensive strategy for the biggest hot-button issue in music, Spotify is essentially admitting defeat and handing this moral dilemma back to the consumer, at least for the moment. The mute function is not a solution to the larger problem of what to do about problematic artists, but rather, a stop-gap that buys Spotify some time to figure out what exactly its role in the industry is. And it comes at a crucial juncture.

It’s likely that the streaming service has been developing this block function for a while now, but it’s conveniently landed during a moment when people are galvanized against a mutual enemy. Following the premiere of Lifetime’s harrowing docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” earlier this month, the #MuteRKelly movement has gained peak momentum and seen unprecedented results. Former Kelly collaborators like Lady Gaga and Chance the Rapper have denounced the singer, RCA has reportedly parted ways with him, and Georgia has launched a criminal investigation into his affairs. To the wider public, Spotify appears as though it’s giving more agency to those rallying against R. Kelly—so much so that publications are framing news of the mute button around the singer (“Spotify Makes It Easy to Mute R. Kelly (Or Any Other Artist),” reads Billboard’s headline). But good timing does not necessarily mean Spotify’s policy will make a marked difference in the anti-Kelly movement. Depressingly enough, the singer’s streams increased 116 percent across major services following the premiere of “Surviving R. Kelly.”

The new feature still seems to be in development, considering it’s yet to go wide on Spotify’s desktop and web player versions. There are definite kinks to be worked out, like the fact that you can’t mute someone when they’re a featured artist on another person’s track. It’s just one small issue among many that Spotify will inevitably have to confront, despite the policy being a way for the company to avoid making tough decisions. What about producers and songwriters who are deemed “problematic”—will they eventually be blockable? And will user data about muted artists stay confidential, or will Spotify share that with its label partners? The streaming giant didn’t make the same mistake of a back-patting public statement this time, so the full capabilities and intentions of the function aren’t yet known. But it’s very possible that, once again, Spotify hasn’t completely thought through all the nuances of the big moves it’s trying to make.