For context, Canadian rocker Neil Young announced on January 24 that he was pulling his music from Spotify because the platform hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, which has been cited for spreading false information about vaccines. The move led to an avalanche of similar terminations and intense online debate.

While Rogan has justified his stance, Spotify has refused to take substantial action against the podcaster, who has an exclusive deal with the platform which ranges above $100 million.

Now, according to The New York Times, Ek made the following statement during a revenue meeting on February 2,

Spotify’s neutral stance over The Joe Rogan Experience

In addition to the above statement, Ek was heard addressing the controversy in a companywide town hall via audio footage obtained by The Verge. He said,

Ek clarified that The Joe Rogan Experience is licensed content, as opposed to a Spotify original, which the company has creative control over.

Ek also pointed out that Spotify has removed some Rogan episodes in the past. He then continued,

Ek has downplayed the catalog removals as well, stating that he feels the controversy will blow over. This isn’t the first of Spotify’s blunders, as the company has come under scrutiny for low artist payouts, unreasonable firing policies, and dubious investments in defense technology.

Joe Rogan himself responded to the controversy on his show on January 30, in a ten-minute video. An excerpt from the same reads,

Rogan said that while he sometimes gets things wrong, he said he tries to correct errors. He promised to try and balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives to find a better point of view.

But then Rogan followed by defending his decision to book a widely criticized guest and vaccine sceptic, Dr. Robert Malone, who has been suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation. Rogan stated,

Many other musicians, podcasters, and other artists have either removed their content from the platform or pushed their weight behind Young.

The artists who have removed their catalogs include Joni Mitchell, other members of the group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and R&B artist India Arie, who has also called out Rogan’s repeated use of racial slurs.

While it remains to be seen whether this stance will result in further consequences, another callous step by Spotify in a series of disturbing decisions makes the company and its market domination concerning.

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