In an apology to Spotify employees, Daniel Ek, the CEO of the streaming service, said that he was sorry about the controversy over Joe Rogan’s show. But he said that the show will stay on Spotify for now.
There’s been another controversy about Joe Rogan and his comments since the start of 2022, and Spotify isn’t happy about it.
People were worried about their jobs after the COVID-19 comment and the new controversy over Rogan’s use of an offensive word. CEO Ek has moved to ease the fears of those people.
It was found in a letter Ek wrote to his staff that was found by the Wall Street Journal “It’s hard for me to say how sorry I am about how The Joe Rogan Experience controversy has affected each of you.
Besides being hurtful, some of Joe Rogan’s comments aren’t in line with the values of this company, and I want to make that clear.”
In the letter, Ek says that the situation makes staff feel “drained, frustrated, and unheard,” but he also says that it won’t be going away quickly.
“While I agree with Joe’s decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I know that some people will want more. Then, I want to make one thing very clear. I don’t think that shutting down Joe is the answer.”
When he talks about content policies and the need to act, he says “canceling voices is a slippery slope.” He says “critical thinking and open debate” are what make the real and necessary progress.
To try to make things right, Ek says he will spend an extra $100 million on the licensing, development, and marketing of music from artists and songwriters from groups that have been underrepresented in the past.
Musicians and other people who make things have tried to get Spotify to do something about the way it’s been talked about by people who don’t like it. Neil Young and others have taken their music off the app in protest.
Spotify published its “long-standing Platform Rules” for the first time, as well as promising to put content advisory warnings on podcasts about COVID-19. This was done to try to stop people from complaining.