It’s October 2022 and people are considering banning Kanye “Ye”, an influential and important artist.
Apple Music tried the waters by removing his essentials playlist.
It does not load if you click on the link to the playlist. It’s just an endlessly spinning wheel.
Apple has yet to issue a statement. The company may be waiting to hear back. It hasn’t been huge, but it is a small piece.
It is not right to debate whether his music should be banned, but it is not surprising given today’s cancel culture.
Variety asked the question in a piece written by Jem Aswad, “Should Kanye’s music be banned?”
Aswad reached the following conclusion: “Great Art is sometimes made by terrible people. It is up to the person whether or not they are morally comfortable eating that art and making money for that horrible person.”
Exactly.
Aswad makes the interesting point that it would make perfect sense to donate profits to the causes the artist has hurt: “In an even better world, rights-holders could donate their share of West’s music or his shoes and apparel to anti-hate groups.”
It will be interesting for us to see what the “rights-holders” do in this situation. It would be amazing if they donated, as it would likely bring in substantial funds for worthy causes.
Hopefully, Ye will realize the damage he has done and attempt to repair it financially. It should be his decision. They shouldn’t force him to do it through threats of banishment.
