Spotify reported its Q4 2021 earnings today, and whereas the numbers confirmed a powerful near final 12 months, the problem on the entrance of everybody’s thoughts is Joe Rogan. CEO Daniel Ek started his ready remarks by broadly addressing the corporate’s “notable few days.” Ek defined that Spotify is working to fight misinformation and that there is nonetheless work to be executed. During the Q&A portion of the earnings name, he was straight requested about The Joe Rogan Experience.
“We’re trying to balance creative expression with the safety of our users,” Ek stated. He continued by saying the corporate does not bend its content material guidelines to suit particular person creators. “While Joe has a massive audience, he also has to abide by those policies.”
Previously, Spotify has stated it reviewed all episodes of JRE and none of them met the factors for removing, regardless of a number of discussions of controversial subjects — most notably COVID-19 vaccines and coverings. Until this weekend, these insurance policies weren’t posted publicly as the corporate supplied particulars whereas asserting it could add a “content advisory” to any podcast episodes that debate COVID-19. When Neil Young pulled his music from the service final week, Spotify stated it had pulled “over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.”
Ek admitted that Spotify ought to’ve posted its content material tips earlier than this previous weekend and took sole accountability for not doing so sooner. He additionally stated he does not anticipate any “churn” or lack of prospects because of the present podcast predicament. He was clear it is too early to inform, however that “controversies” normally play out in “months instead of days.”
Rogan has issued an apology, pledging to incorporate a wider array of opinions on future episodes. “I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view,” he stated.
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