Recently, many music artists have been in the spotlight for various controversies. In the last two weeks, Kanye West was kicked off Twitter for antisemitic tweets and has been in hot water after wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt. In addition, Rex Orange County, one of my favorite artists, was charged with six counts of sexual assault. Being that I would consider myself a fan of both artists’ music, I am left with a major moral dilemma. Can I still jam out to these songs without feeling guilty, or am I faced with the only option to delete them from my library?
This isn’t a new trend. Problematic artists have made consumers question if they are allowed to keep listening for years. Michael Jackson, John Lennon, R. Kelly and Chris Brown all have made hit songs and garnered many fans, yet each artist mentioned has a serious controversy (or crime) surrounding them. So, the question remains, is it possible to separate the art from the artist?
Logistically, the main argument stands that even if you don’t support the artist themself, each time you listen to their music you put money into their pockets. In reality, for each stream of a song lasting longer than 30 seconds, the artist makes around 0.0001 to 0.01 cents, depending on the streaming service used. Now that doesn’t mean that streaming a song doesn’t mean anything; there are multiple people just like you streaming the same song, generating more money and giving them more attention and fans every time you hit play.
On the other hand, that artist isn’t alone in the making and distribution of that song. There is an entire team of people involved in the musical process that also relies on the money and notoriety of that artist’s name, yet has done nothing wrong. In this argument, you have to recognize the artist as a company, not as just an individual. For example, if a high-level executive at Apple did something controversial or had serious allegations against them, would you stop using your iPhone?
This philosophic question lends itself in many different ways—practically versus morally—and as consumers, we must decide for ourselves which is more important on a personal level. I cannot tell you what your ethics are or should be, it must come from you entirely.
Personally, I do not see a right answer. Everyone is biased in their music choices and their favorite artists. It would be much easier to lose respect and stop listening to an artist you aren’t a fan of, while much more difficult to stop listening to an artist you listen to regularly.
Music is so personal in itself, the same as art is. It is purely subjective and means so many different things to so many people. You can hate that one song, yet that is someone’s most listened to. What if the next controversy is about your absolute favorite artist and that one song they sing is your all-time favorite song; could you delete it and never listen to it again?