Spotify is expanding its podcast offering to free itself from the dependency on the music industry. But as with Twitter and YouTube, the question is now increasingly being raised for the successful Swedish company: how to deal with contentious and problematic content?
“NZZ Akzent”: Spotify under pressure: The Rogan scandal
author
Nadine Landert and Marlen Oehler
You can also listen to and subscribe to the “NZZ Akzent” podcast spotify, Apple Podcasts or cast box.
Have feedback on the podcast? Tell us yours Opinion.
In this podcast episode:
When the American comedian Joe Rogan invited the controversial virologist Robert Malone to his show at the end of December, the podcast star probably had no idea what he would do with it. With Malone free to air his controversial theories about the pandemic, music legends like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell left the streaming service. The platform spread misinformation and conspiracy theories, so the allegation.
Spotify has increasingly relied on podcasts since 2019 and secured expensive exclusive rights for successful podcast shows. The realignment is lucrative as podcast advertising makes the Swedish company more independent from music producers. Is she also responsible for the content of her stars?
Following Young and Mitchell’s protest, Spotify re-posted all Covid-19 posts on the platform with links to more information about the pandemic. However, Spotify is sticking to its collaboration with Joe Rogan, even when the American singer India Arie accuses him of racism. The streaming service then deleted numerous episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience”.
In the new episode of “NZZ Akzent” Rewert Hoffer tells what Spotify has to learn from the Rogan scandal.
All episodes of “NZZ Akzent” can be found in this overview.