Joe Rogan’s podcast has placed Spotify into a public relations crisis in which listeners were outraged over the podcast's December 31st episode discussing the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccinations.
The episode in question was released on December 31st in which Rogan brought on a virologist that was skeptical of the mRNA vaccines in addition to questioning and criticizing how the beginning of the pandemic was handled by government officials and medical experts. The discussion between the virologist and Rogan caused outrage among doctors and scientists claiming that Rogan was spreading misinformation about Covid-19.
In addition to these doctors and scientists, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell were displeased with Spotify demanding that if Spotify does not remove Rogan’s podcast, then they would remove their music. Spotify chose to defend Rogan and keep his podcast on the streaming service in which Young and Mitchell followed through with their ultimatum and began removing their music on Wednesday.
Spotify has been adamant about defending Rogan as the company paid more than $100 million in 2020 to bring Joe Rogan to Spotify exclusively. This is part of the company’s attempt to expand beyond only music. In response to the outrage, Spotify has decided to implement a content advisory for any medium that discusses Covid-19.
Rogan has also apologized for the episode stating that he had no intentions of angering anyone and has also stated that he will be more diligent about obtaining multiple viewpoints for future episodes.
Source: Financial Times
