Spotify CEO bucks cancel culture, refuses to remove Joe Rogan: 'Canceling voices is a slippery slope'



Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is not kowtowing to cancel culture.

Spotify's top executive released a statement late Sunday explaining the streaming platform would stand by Joe Rogan, host of "The Joe Rogan Experience," as leftists call for Spotify to boot him from its platform.

What did Ek say?

Writing in an email to all Spotify employees, Ek addressed the newest controversy involving Rogan — his use of the N-word and racially insensitive jokes on podcast episodes that have existed on the internet for years but only became a problem last week — and explained that Spotify will not cancel Rogan.

"I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer," Ek said.

"We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress," he explained.

Regarding episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" that were recently purged from the platform, Ek explained that Rogan made the decision to remove the now-deleted episodes, a decision Ek said he supported. Rogan has said in an Instagram video that he chose to remove some old episodes because they were "clunky."

Ek, however, did make one concession to upset employees. He pledged that Spotify would invest $100 million — the same amount of money as Spotify's contract with Rogan to exclusively host his podcast — to promote content from "historically marginalized groups."

If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds. We’ve been doing a great deal of work in this area already but I think we can do even more. So I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups. This will dramatically increase our efforts in these areas.

"While some might want us to pursue a different path, I believe that more speech on more issues can be highly effective in improving the status quo and enhancing the conversation altogether," Ek explained.

What is the background?

Rogan published an unequivocal apology over the weekend after clips of him using the N-word circulated on social media.

"There's a video that's out that is a compilation of me saying the N-word. It's a video that's made of clips taken out-of-context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it's all smushed together," Rogan explained in an Instagram video. "It looks f***ing horrible. Even to me."

"I know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, nevermind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that now. I haven’t said it in years," Rogan said. "But for a long time ... when it came up in conversation, instead of saying ‘the N-word,’ I would just say the word. I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing."

After explaining the contexts in which he used the N-word, Rogan said, "I never used it to be racist because I’m not racist."

"But whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,’ you’ve f***ed up, and I clearly have f***ed up," he added.

Spotify CEO explains why streaming giant doesn't edit Joe Rogan's podcast, but stresses even the 'No. 1 podcast' has to abide by new misinformation policies



Spotify CEO Daniel Ek addressed the situation surrounding Joe Rogan in the company's post-earnings call on Wednesday. The head of Spotify said the streaming music giant is "trying to balance creative expression with the safety of our users."

"Obviously, it’s been a few notable days here at Spotify," Ek said, according to Variety.

"There’s still work to be done, but I’m pleased that Spotify is already implementing several first-of-its-kind measures to help combat misinformation and provide greater transparency," he stated. "We believe we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users, and we will continue to partner with experts."

When asked about the effect of the Joe Rogan blowback on the company, Ek responded, "It’s too early to know what the impact will be."

"Usually when we’ve had controversies in the past, those are measured in months, not days," Ek said after the quarterly earnings call.

"I know this issue has been top of mind this week, but I think it’s important to take a step back," he said during the Q&A session. "We’re trying to balance creator expression with the safety of our users."

"So I think the important part here is that we don’t change our policies based on one creator, nor do we change it based on any media cycle or call from anyone else," the Spotify CEO continued. "Our policies have been carefully written with the input from numbers of internal and external experts in this space. And I do believe they’re right for our platform."

"And while Joe [Rogan] has a massive audience, and is actually the No. 1 podcast in more than 90 markets, he also has to abide by those policies," Ek added. "So I think when you think about that and you think about the ad business, I have a tremendous amount of confidence."

During a livestreamed company town hall on Wednesday, Ek reportedly explained why Spotify doesn't edit episodes of Rogan's show. He allegedly told employees that Spotify believes it is a distributor of Rogan's top-rated podcast, not a publisher.

“Spotify doesn’t approve Rogan’s guest list, they don’t look at his content until it goes up, and so they don’t have editing power," an anonymous Spotify employee told the Los Angeles Times. "They just look at it after it’s already on the platform and remove it if it doesn’t meet guidelines."

The unnamed source said Ek and chief content and advertising business officer Dawn Ostroff "repeatedly used the phrase 'if we were a publisher,' very strongly implying we are not a publisher, so we don’t have editorial responsibility” for "The Joe Rogan Experience."

In May 2020, Rogan reportedly signed a $100 million deal with Spotify that gave the streaming service exclusive distribution rights to his podcast, but not ownership.

Musicians have removed their music from Spotify because they are boycotting "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast — including Neil Young, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, India Arie, and Nils Lofgren.

Financial Times reported, "Spotify and Young’s camp have been in talks over how to resolve the disagreement, according to people briefed on the negotiations. Before considering a return to the streaming service, Young wants more concrete details about Spotify’s promise to add 'content advisory' notices to any podcasts discussing coronavirus, the people said."

An anonymous senior label executive told the Financial Times, "We can’t get into a situation where any time an artist has a problem with a service, we take down their music."

Spotify Technology S.A. announced that the company had 406 million total monthly active users for the streaming service in the fourth quarter, which grew by 25 million from the previous quarter, and an 18% increase year over year. There was also a 16% increase in premium users year over year.

Barron's noted, "Spotify is still posting losses — it has lost money on a per-share basis in most quarters since it went public — but the latest loss was narrower than analysts had expected."

"Without new premium subscribers, Spotify will increasingly be dependent on advertising for its revenue, and its business model could look more like a radio station than a fast-growing subscription business. Ads, supported by products like podcasts, now make up 15% of revenue, more than ever before," Barron's added. "Being dependent on advertising and high-profile talent also presents other risks, as the company discovered over the past week."

As of Thursday morning, Spotify's stock was down approximately 14% and was hovering around $165.

Ek issued a statement on Sunday regarding the firestorm around the prolific podcaster, who has an estimated 11 million listeners each episode.

"It is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them," Ek said.

"Based on the feedback over the last several weeks, it’s become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time," Ek explained. "These issues are incredibly complex. We’ve heard you – especially those from the medical and scientific communities."

Ek said Spotify will "add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19."

Also on Sunday, Spotify unveiled sweeping new rules regarding "dangerous content" on the streaming service. Spotify – the world's biggest streaming music service – threatened to terminate artists or podcasts that repeatedly promote "dangerous false or dangerous deceptive medical information that may cause offline harm or poses a direct threat to public health."