The CEO of Spotify reportedly defended the company's decision to work with Joe Rogan, even though the podcast host says "very offensive" things, in a town hall meeting with "frustrated" employees.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek delivered a speech to employees Wednesday addressing the growing controversy over COVID-19 misinformation spread on Joe Rogan's podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, a Spotify exclusive, The Verge reports. Ek reportedly acknowledged employees feeling "disappointed, or angry, or even hurt" but defended the deal with Rogan, saying Spotify "needed to find leverage" with companies like Amazon and Google by signing exclusive podcast agreements.
"To be frank, had we not made some of the choices we did, I am confident that our business wouldn't be where it is today," Ek said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ek also reportedly defended Spotify as being a "platform" and not a "publisher," telling employees it doesn't have creative control over Rogan's show and doesn't agree with everything he says.
"I understand the premise that because we have an exclusive deal with him, it's really easy to conclude we endorse every word he says and believe the opinions expressed by his guests," Ek said, per The Verge. "That's absolutely not the case. There are many things that Joe Rogan says that I strongly disagree with and find very offensive. But let me go back to what I said earlier, if you want even a shot at achieving our bold ambitions, it will mean having content on Spotify that many of us may not be proud to be associated with."��
But Ek's "sentiments rang hollow" to some employees, who internally expressed disappointment with his defense, The Verge wrote, citing a source as saying that "people are feeling increasingly frustrated" inside the company.
Ek also defended Spotify during an earnings call Wednesday, The New York Times reports, saying "we don't change our policies based on one creator nor do we change it based on any media cycle."
-
August 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include snake oil salesmen, Ghislaine Maxwell's new residence, and more
-
5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistrictingCartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremesTalking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
