Daniel Ek makes it clear that his company will not give 'The Joe Rogan Experience' host a special treatment even though his podcast 'has a massive audience.'
- February 4, 2022
AceShowbiz - Spotify CEO has finally broken his silence on the catalog removal of several artists. Noting that the company is "trying to balance creative expression with the safety of our users," Daniel Ek urged Joe Rogan to "abide" policies on the platform.
"While Joe has a massive audience -- he's the No. 1 podcast in more than 90 markets -- he also has to abide by those policies," Daniel said on a conference call on Wednesday, February 2. "We don't change our policies based on one creator."
Daniel went on to explain that the last several weeks have "presented a number of learning opportunities" for the company. "There's still work to be done," he stated. "But I'm pleased that Spotify is already implementing several first-of-its-kinds measures to help combat misinformation and provide greater transparency."
A number of musicians like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren pulled their music from Spotify because of Joe's presence on the streaming service. The comedian himself has been accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines on his "The Joe Rogan Experience".
India.Arie, meanwhile, declared on Monday that she's also removing her music and podcast from the platform. "Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through. I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons other than his Covid interviews. For me, it's also his language around race," she she wrote on Instagram.
As for Joe, he has reacted to the controversy. "These podcasts are very strange because they're just conversations... And oftentimes I have no idea what I'm going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people. And that's why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I'm literally having them in real time," he said.
"But I do my best and they're just conversations, and I think that's also the appeal of the show. It's one of the things that makes it interesting," Joe continued explaining. "So I want to thank Spotify for being so supportive during this time, and I'm very sorry that this is happening to them and that they're taking so much from it."
