Out Of The Spotlight

Controversy and cancellation wreak havoc throughout the music industry, making it difficult to ethically separate the music from the musician, no matter their popularity.

BY LILY WILKIN COPY EDITOR

Much thought goes into compiling the perfect playlist. What vibe are you going for? Do you want pop, rap, hip-hop or rock? All female musicians, male musicians or some combination of the two? Here’s one more thing that you should take into consideration: the actions of the musicians.

In the past several years, we’ve witnessed popular musicians such as R. Kelly, Kanye West and Chris Brown commit inexcusable actions: sex trafficking, promotion of anti-semitism and domestic violence, just to name a few. In such extreme instances, it can be easy to conclude that continuing to support these people is not morally right. In a poll of 41 Sion students who have listened to the music of Kanye West, 61% stated that West’s recent actions have led them to listen less.

While it’s generally easy to remove a human trafficker or a racist from your playlist, what about musicians such as Sia, Drake or Tyler the Creator, whose actions, though controversial, are not so blatantly appalling? Is it morally correct to continue to listen to these artists, knowing that their actions have harmed people, but weren’t “as bad” as beating your wife or making anti semitic tweets? Should we take into consideration smaller acts? Or in these cases, is it morally acceptable to separate the musician from their music?

In 2022, Drake appeared to reference rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s 2020 shooting incident involving Tory Lanez in his song “Circo Loco,” in which he seemed to imply that Stallion was lying about the event. Stallion clapped back, accusing Drake of “attaching weak conspiracy theories in bars to my name,” according to CBS News.

Evidence proves that Stallion was telling the truth about the 2020 incident. To accuse someone of lying about a gun attack is victim blaming, which could serve as a valid reason to consider cutting Drake out of your listening habits. It appears that many don’t consider this a “bad enough” offense, however, because Drake remains a chart-topping musician, and many people continue to add him to their playlists.

Tyler the Creator has been scrutinized by the public for including homophobic and misogynistic lyrics in his songs. He has never apologized for his behavior, and continues to state that he is ‘only joking’ when making these comments.

Showing your continued support for someone who has an obligation to apologize to a group of people and refuses to do so shows that you value that music more than the dignity of the group of people that is being discriminated against.

Another group that is frequently ridiculed within the music industry is those with disabilities. In 2021, musician Sia wrote and produced a movie titled “Music,” which gained much attention for being ableist and mocking people with autism. The film portrayed harmful stereotypes and used language that is no longer used by the autistic community.

The cases of Drake, Tyler the Creator and Sia have much more nuance than the rest, which is true for many musicians in the industry. Celebrities are humans too, and no person is perfect. Your favorite musician has likely made a mistake at some point in their career, and it is your responsibility to determine whether or not you feel comfortable continuing your support.

Everytime you stream an artist’s music, they get a portion of that money generated from the streaming service. Therefore, continuing to listen to these artists shows that you not only support their actions, but support them enough that you are willing to give them money. The only way to continue listening to an artist’s music without them making a profit from it is if you already own their record or CD.

What happens if that artist is no longer alive to profit off of their music, or can no longer harm people? Michael Jackson, for example, allegedly abused children for years and yet many people continue to stream “Thriller” every Halloween.

According to the National Public Radio (NPR), Sony now owns the rights to Jackson’s music. If this potential child molester is no longer profiting off of his music sales, does that make it okay to support him and listen to his music?

While we should be conscious of the musicians we listen to, some of the responsibility is also on the major streaming services. Other big corporations, including Nike, have dropped artists for making offensive comments. So why isn’t Spotify doing more to ensure these artist’s are held accountable for their actions?

The morality of creating a simple playlist continues to become an increasingly daunting task as musicians’ bad behaviors come to light. People are allowed to make some mistakes, but how they handle those mistakes matters. If a musician does something that can be forgiven, but never demonstrates remorse for their actions, continuing to support them means you are enabling that behavior, increasing the chances that they aren’t going to fix or change it.

Many of these musicians think that just because they’re popular, they can get away with anything. It is the listener’s responsibility to show them that actions have consequences. When people change their listening habits, it shows the artists that there are repercussions for their actions and can bring them down to earth.

Making the choice of whether or not to show your continued support for an artist is a difficult but necessary decision to make. At the end of the day, you have to acknowledge that if you continue to support artists that have encouraged discrimination or caused harm to people, then you are contributing to that problem.

All people make mistakes, including your favorite musician. But with power and influence so great, a minor mistake can harm many people. So next time you’re making a playlist, consider: are you willing to sacrifice your morals just to stream a song?