Do scandals hurt music sales – or do they fuel streams?

A new study involving WU Vienna University of Economics and Business looks at several high-profile music scandals and finds that outrage and boycott calls have little effect on listeners’ behavior. When streaming platforms intervene, however, the consequences for artists’ commercial success can be significant.

Fans separate the art from the artist

Scandals in the music industry often spark boycott calls on social media. A new study examines several prominent cases involving R. Kelly, Morgan Wallen, Rammstein, and Sean “Diddy” Combs. The researchers evaluated streaming data from major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, as well as more than 11 million Twitter posts, including posts with the hashtag #MuteRKelly, calling for a boycott of R. Kelly’s music.

In most of these scandals, the streaming platforms did not intervene by taking the artists’ music offline. Despite public outcry, millions of social media posts, and boycott calls, streaming figures did not decline if the platforms did not intervene themselves. “In the cases we analyzed, we’ve seen no evidence that public outrage alone leads to a lasting drop in streaming demand,” says Nils Wlömert from the Institute for Retailing & Data Science at WU Vienna, coauthor of the study. “The results suggest that many fans separate the art from the artist, at least in the streaming context,” Wlömert points out.

How streaming platforms shape music consumption

The case of R. Kelly stands out as a clear exception. In 2018, Spotify introduced its “Hate Content and Hateful Conduct Public Policy” and, on that basis, removed R. Kelly’s songs from curated playlists and recommendations. However, the tracks remained available via the search function, on-demand listening, and third-party playlists. As a result of these steps, Kelly’s streaming numbers fell sharply. Tracks that had not been removed from playlists, in contrast, did not experience comparable declines. Spotify withdrew the policy shortly afterwards, but it did not reintroduce R. Kelly’s music to its playlists. This sequence of events allowed the researchers to isolate the effect of platform sanctions versus boycott calls alone. “Through their content decisions, streaming platforms determine what people listen to. Our findings illustrate the growing power of streaming platforms,” Wlömert says.

Music scandals can boost streams in the short term

In several cases, strong media coverage even led to short-term increases in streams. The scandals turned the spotlight on the artists and temporarily drove more plays. “Public outrage does not automatically reduce demand. In some cases, it briefly pushes artists further into the spotlight – which may even boost their streams,” Wlömert notes. Ultimately, what matters is not the public outcry alone but whether streaming platforms step in to restrict an artist’s visibility.

Reference

Winkler, Daniel, Wlömert, Nils & Liaukonytė, Jura (2026): Separating the Artist from the Art: Social Media Boycotts, Platform Sanctions, and Music Consumption.
In: Journal of Marketing Research. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437261445841

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Julia Kreimel
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