What a mess Spotify finds itself in.
On one hand, there’s Joe Rogan — the most famous podcaster in the world. On the other hand, rock legends such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell — with more sure to follow — are calling out Rogan for COVID-19 misinformation heard on his podcasts and pulling their music because of it.
And then there’s Spotify, stuck in the middle between one of their most popular talents and influential musicians who might have the power to influence fellow artists and fans to boycott the company.
That’s just at the surface. This is more than just a PR eyesore. Dig deeper and you get into arguments about free speech, the dangers of passing along falsehoods about a virus that has killed millions and what Spotify’s responsibility is in all of this.
Let’s zero in on that last question first. What is Spotify? Is it a media company or is it merely a streaming service that isn’t really responsible for moderating its content?
Ryan Broderick, who writes the Garbage Day newsletter about web culture, makes an extremely compelling point: Rogan isn’t just some random podcaster. He’s Spotify’s podcaster. Spotify is spending up to $100 million to exclusively air Rogan’s podcast.
Broderick wrote, “‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ is, in every sense that matters, a Spotify production. There might not be a Spotify rep in the room while they record, but Spotify is the only place you can hear it.”
Some have made the argument that Spotify is no different than, say, Facebook.
But Recode’s Peter Kafka said something similar to what Broderick said, tweeting, “The difference, which Spotify hopes you ignore: Facebook never signed a giant contract to be the exclusive distributor for a podcaster famous for hosting the likes of Alex Jones.”
The argument here is if you’re going to pay someone $100 million (or any amount) to exclusively air their content, you have now become a media company, and therefore are responsible for the content.
Spotify announced over the weekend that it’s going to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that talks about COVID-19, and that the advisory will include links to trusted sources about COVID-19.
Talk about splitting hairs. Spotify is acting as if it is doing the right thing, but also being careful not to agitate Rogan or, just as important, his listeners.
In a public letter, Spotify CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek wrote, “We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users. In that role, 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.”
Those are more hairs being split.
Ek also wrote, “… 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.”
This isn’t just about Bill Simmons (another podcast star who sold his entire Ringer podcast network to Spotify) picking a Super Bowl winner. Rogan’s podcast — which draws an estimated 11 million visitors per episode — has featured guests who have said misleading or outright false things about a deadly virus and vaccines.
In a nine-minute video on Instagram, Rogan portrayed himself as an inquisitive interviewer who is just asking questions and looking for “all kinds of opinions.”
“I'm not trying to promote misinformation, I'm not trying to be controversial,” Rogan said. “I've never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations.”
He also pushed back against charges of promoting “misinformation,” saying, “Many of the things that we thought of as misinformation just a short while ago are now accepted as fact.”
Rogan’s hey-I’m-just-asking-questions act is what makes him both appealing to his listeners and, at the same time, incredibly dangerous, especially if he is unwilling or unable, because of lack of knowledge, to call out his guests for saying things that just aren’t true.
In a smart Twitter thread, CNN tech reporter Brian Fung tweeted, “Rogan exudes authenticity because he starts from a position of curiosity. It works because he brings the audience with him on his journey of discovery.”
Fung goes on to tweet, “The basic formula is, ‘So I had this question that was bugging me, so I asked this smart person to tell me about it, and here's what they said.’ This is basically the core of good explanatory journalism. The issue is what Rogan does with what people tell him.”
Fung continues: “Your job as the reporter is not necessarily to *believe* what your source is telling you, but to toss it into the big bucket of other facts you're holding up to the light and see if it is consistent with everything else. … And that's what seems to be missing, at least from the perspective of this journalist, from Rogan's process. But hey, do your own research.”
If Rogan isn’t going to stop bad information from getting out over his podcast, shouldn’t Spotify?
How does this all end?
So how does this Rogan-Spotify-musicians staring contest end?
New York Times’ technology columnist Kevin Roose writes that it’s “hard to say,” but here are three possibilities:
One, Rogan doubles down on COVID-19 and eventually crosses a line that Spotify cannot accept. Rogan and Spotify end their relationship. He goes off and starts his own company while complaining about cancel culture, woke mobs and so forth.
Two, Rogan fully apologizes and/or stays clear of controversy, perhaps putting COVID-19 talk away for a while.
“A third option,” Roose writes, “is that the whole controversy could simply fizzle out, like last year’s imbroglio with Dave Chappelle and Netflix, which began after the comedian was accused of making transphobic remarks during a special and ended, days later, with no real consequences for anyone. But this outcome doesn’t seem likely, given that boycotts have already begun and appear to be snowballing.”
Whatever happens, Spotify is in a mess.
Roose writes, “Spotify may think it’s gotten past the worst of the Rogan backlash. But we know from recent history that what looks like the end of a content moderation controversy is often just the warm-up act.”
Taking a break
