UPDATE: As of Friday, January 18, Sony Music and RCA have officially parted ways with R Kelly. The label will not issue any further releases from Kelly nor will they continue to promote his music. RCA did not make a formal statement regarding the matter but rather had Kelly’s name scrubbed from all traces of their roster of artists online by Friday afternoon. Kelly has also reportedly been dropped from Universal Music Publishing Group. According to an anonymous RCA employee, the label has been in talks for months discussing ways in which to end Kelly’s contract. Terms of the exit deal were not disclosed and remain confidential.

 

Allegations of misconduct have followed R Kelly for the better part of the last two decades. Despite having married Aaliyah when she was just 15 years old in 1995, and allegedly being the leader of a cult in which he has enslaved numerous females, to name but two, Kelly has remained unscathed. Recently however, a new docuseries on Lifetime entitled Surviving R Kelly has sought to put an end to the career of the alleged serial abuser.

 

Since the series premiered in early January, the backlash has been swift. However, there have been more repercussions for former associates of Kelly than for Kelly himself. The French rock group Phoenix was quick to issue an apology for collaborating with Kelly on one of their singles in 2013 as well as featuring him as a guest at their headlining appearance at the Coachella Music Festival that same year. Lady Gaga’s Golden Globe win was soured after fresh criticism was directed towards her and her 2013 collaboration with Kelly entitled “Do What U Want.”  The single was controversial upon its release in 2013 due to its explicit subject matter, but an apology only came last week when Gaga admitted to her regret in releasing the single. She has since removed it from all streaming platforms. As of this week, several other artists have denounced their projects and collaborations with Kelly.  What of Kelly himself though? All of his music is still available to stream on all major streaming platforms. In fact, Kelly’s music saw a 16% increase in streams following the airing of Surviving R Kelly.

 

When it comes to streaming music, Spotify in particular is in a rather tough spot in these situations. The streaming giant faced widespread criticism last year when it removed music from several artists they deemed to be morally abject with the introduction of a new “hate content” policy. In April 2018, Spotify removed the music of controversial rapper XXXTentacion and censored some of R Kelly’s music. The move was met with backlash from fans of the artists, who condemned Spotify for wielding their worldwide influence unfairly. The policy was quickly reversed and the artists were back to raking in huge streaming numbers and reaping the monetary benefits.

 

While Spotify faced criticism for its public censorship of the controversial artists, there has been little forthcoming from the record labels that employ these artists. RCA, home to Kelly, have remained for the most part exceptionally quiet in regards to the public image of their signed artists. While silence has allowed labels to remain immune to public opinion in the past, criticism of Kelly and anyone associated with Kelly is reaching a fever pitch, forcing RCA to take a stand. Many critics of Kelly have called on RCA to drop him from their roster of artists. The fact that they haven’t done so speaks volumes — but there is more than meets the eye happening behind the scenes.

 

As is the case with most record contracts involving high-profile artists, little is known about the details of Kelly’s contract. What we do know is that Kelly owes RCA two more albums before his contractual obligations are fulfilled entirely. If they were to completely cut ties with Kelly at this point, Kelly could potentially sue RCA for damages and breach of contract. Of course, this is only assuming the parameters of Kelly’s contract. It is becoming more and more common for contracts to include “morals clauses” which, if breached, allow the contractor to break the contract. A “morals clause” is a provision in a contract which stipulates that certain actions or activities that are undertaken in an individual’s “private life” can be grounds for termination of the contract. In practice, this occurs when a studio, producer, or record label seek to distance themselves from an individual because their reputation has become unfavourable or toxic.

 

We have seen morals clauses invoked in the past, with celebrities such as Tiger Woods losing multiple endorsements or Charlie Sheen being removed from his hit sitcom Two and a Half Men.

 

It is important to note that morals clauses differ in scope. Certain clauses may favour the athlete or entertainer by having a limited scope that only permits termination through a morals clause if they have been convicted of a crime. Other clauses are drafted more broadly to mandate that any sort of behaviour that would tend to shock, insult, or offend the community would warrant termination through the morals clause. The drafting of such a clause varies depending on the goals of the drafter or the parties involved.

 

It is impossible to know the exact details of Kelly’s contract with RCA. However, it is likely that his contract does not include a morals clause, as these types of clauses have only become widespread in recent years, while Kelly’s deal with RCA (formerly Jive Records) was initially struck in the late 1990s.

 

What we know for sure is that public perception will trump contractual obligations in almost every case such as Kelly’s. Following the airing of Surviving R Kelly, backlash has been swift: note the resurgence of the #MuteRKelly movement. As previously mentioned, many artists have distanced themselves from Kelly and removed their collaborations from streaming services. Similarly, many critics of Kelly have specifically called on RCA to drop him from their roster, even going as far as to fly a plane with a banner reading “RCA/Sony: Drop Sexual Predator R Kelly” past the RCA offices in Los Angeles.

 

As it turns out, this pressure may finally have worked. After skirting critics and serious allegations for decades, R Kelly’s career might soon meet its demise as public outrage reaches new volumes. Earlier this week, RCA announced they would be suspending any future release of new music from Kelly. Although Kelly will remain signed with RCA, the release of any new music will be put on hold and the label will refuse to “produce new music, pay for its recording, or release it until Kelly’s criminal investigations are resolved.”

 

Kelly is reportedly not pleased with this decision, but as mentioned, due to contractual obligations this is about as much as RCA can do without facing the possibility of a lawsuit.

 

Considering this, it’s safe to say that public perception and the optics of being associated with an artist in times of scandal can have a significant influence on the business dealings of said artist. Many are still shocked that admitted abuser Chris Brown has been able to continue to enjoy a successful career — yet he has been able to do so partly because he somehow still manages to sell millions of albums and has a fiercely supportive fan base. With Kelly’s popularity having declined over the years, his ability to use his name to avoid serious allegations may be finished. After decades of dismissing such allegations, it might finally be time for R Kelly to face the music.