While several artists, including Neil Young, have threatened Spotify to withdraw their discography from the platform due to non-existent moderation on controversial content, the boss of the Swedish company has finally spoken.
It took a 76-year-old rocker to raise his voice for Spotify to decide to move. The number one in global music streaming, singled out for its lack of fight against disinformation around Covid-19, has come out of its silence. Daniel Ek, the boss of the company, published a blog article to detail some measures taken urgently.
“You’ve had a lot of questions over the past few days about our usage policies and the lines we’ve drawn between what’s acceptable and what’s not”writes Daniel Ek. “We’ve had rules in place for many years, but admittedly we haven’t been transparent about the policies that guide our content more broadly. This, in turn, has led to questions about their application to serious issues, including Covid-19.”
Spotify will specifically add a content warning to any podcast episode that includes discussion of Covid-19. This warning will direct listeners to a hub dedicated to the pandemic. The music streaming giant will also make its rules of use public and is working on ways to highlight its rules of use across the tools for creators and publishers. “to raise awareness of what is acceptable and to help creators understand their responsibility”.
James Blunt threatens… to release songs
This announcement responds to strong criticism leveled against the platform for a week. Rock star Neil Young had announced the removal of all of his musical work from the platform due to hosting a controversial podcast. It is The Joe Rogan Experiencea format hosted by the American Joe Rogan, accused in particular of having discouraged vaccination.
Yew @spotify doesn’t immediately remove @joeroganI will release new music onto the platform. #youwerebeautiful
—James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) January 29, 2022
Joe Rogan posted an Instagram video where he details his motivations for hosting controversial guests. He indicates that he wishes to confront all kinds of opinions and that he will try to better balance the points of view in the future. In the footsteps of Neil Young, other personalities have threatened Spotify with a boycott, such as Joni Mitchell or James Blunt, who has threatened to rewrite songs. It remains to be seen if Spotify’s response will be enough to close the subject.