Spotify CEO Apologizes To Staff Over Joe Rogan Controversy

A few weeks ago, Spotify was under fire for its reactions to the Joe Rogan podcast and the possible misinformation it might be spreading and the use of the racial slur. The Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has now apologized for the hardships the company’s employees have endured during this time.

According to Engadget, Ek noted in his email that he is “deeply sorry” for employees who’ve felt “drained, frustrated and unheard.”

The Joe Rogan Experience podcast became a severe problem for Spotify, as some believed it is spreading COVID misinformation and includes racial insults. Spotify CEO said he “strongly condemned [ed]” the Rogan podcast. Also, over 100 episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast are removed from Spotify.

At the December 31st episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the guest Dr. Robert Malone said that psychosis has made people think that vaccination against COVID-19 has been effective.

Spotify insists on preserving contents

So far, Spotify’s CEO has responded well to this. But Ek believes that deleting the episodes was a “slippery slope.” He also said that preserving content with misinformation fostered “critical thinking and open debate” necessary for progress.

Ek says the controversy surrounding Joe Rogan’s podcast is inevitable for a platform that wants to become the world’s leading audio platform. It seems that Spotify is not happy with the removal of episodes of the Rogan podcast. Anyway, it had to do so only due to public pressure.

Rogan podcasts are popular on the Spotify platform, and Spotify certainly does not want to lose any of its customers. But the company has made a big gamble. Following these controversies, well-known artists such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Brené Brown withdrew their content from Spotify.

The protesting artists say that Spotify is deliberately spreading false information. A company of this size also has a duty to provide accurate information to the public.

Spotify CEO noticed that they must go beyond content labels and publicly accessible content policies. Moreover, he promised to invest $100 million in “historically marginalized groups.”