Spotify adds COVID-19 content advisory following Joe Rogan controversy

Spotify's content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19 will direct listeners to its dedicated COVID-19 Hub. The hub is a resource that provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources.

CEO Daniel Ek said this follows "questions over the last few days" about Spotify's policies and the lines it has drawn between what is acceptable and what is not.  "This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days. To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform," Ek said.

Ek's statement came after celebrities protested against Joe Rogan's Spotify podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. According to multiple sources such as Channel NewsAsia and CNN, Rogan stirred controversy with his views on the pandemic, government mandates and vaccines to control the spread of the coronavirus. This led to 270 scientists and medical professionals signing a letter earlier this month, urging Spotify to take action against Rogan for spreading falsehoods on the podcast.

"We have had rules in place for many years but admittedly, we haven’t been transparent around the policies that guide our content more broadly. This, in turn, led to questions around their application to serious issues including COVID-19," Ek said.

Spotify will also begin testing ways to highlight its platform rules in its creator and publisher tools to raise awareness around what’s acceptable and help creators understand their accountability for the content they post on the platform, in addition to the terms that creators and publishers agree to governing their use of its services.

Rogan made headlines last April for vaccination comments. In his podcast, he explained that healthy young people should not get the COVID-19 vaccine. When approached by Bloomberg about his comments, Ek previously declined to address them, adding that Rogan is one of the eight million creators and Spotify has a content policy in place.

Following the letter by scientists and medical professionals, singer-songwriter Neil Young sparked a protest by releasing a now-deleted public letter to Spotify last week, requesting for his music to be taken down from the platform. According to The New York Times, Young told Spotify in his letter that the platform had to make its choice between him and Rogan. Spotify has since removed Young's songs from its platform as per his request. Young also promoted Apple Music and Amazon Music on his Twitter and Instagram following his protest, with fans even getting a chance to receive four months of Amazon Music for free.

https://twitter.com/NeilYoungNYA/status/1487207597249896449

Meanwhile, Apple Music is using this chatter to draw users to its platform by showing support for Young on Twitter following Spotify's removal of his songs. Apple Music labelled itself "The home of Neil Young", calling for fans to head over to its platform to listen to Young's "entire catalogue".

https://twitter.com/AppleMusic/status/1486863052180004867

Fellow singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell joined the protest as well, publishing an open letter on her website on 29 January. "Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue," Mitchell said in her letter. Nils Lofgren, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, joined the protest shortly after, as well as author Brene Brown, who also also hosted Spotify-exclusive podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead. Brown said in a Twitter post that she "will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice".

https://twitter.com/BreneBrown/status/1487535996782710786

Ek added that "from the very first days of the pandemic, Spotify has been biased toward action". In addition to launching a variety of educational resources and campaigns to raise awareness, the platform donated ad inventory to various organisations for vaccine awareness, funds to the World Health Organisation and COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access to increase vaccine equity, supported the Go Give One fundraising campaign, and established a music relief project to support the creative community. 

"We take this seriously and will continue to partner with experts and invest heavily in our platform functionality and product capabilities for the benefit of creators and listeners alike. That doesn’t mean that we always get it right, but we are committed to learning, growing and evolving," Ek said.

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