Spotify is the most popular music streaming platform on the planet, with over five hundred and twenty-three nine million subscribers as of mid-XNUMX. However, the service has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, with artists and subscribers boycotting Spotify over its endorsement of controversial podcaster Joe Rogan.
It may have started as a music service in XNUMX, but Spotify has invested heavily in podcasts of late, and from the moment Spotify acquired exclusive distribution rights to The Joe Rogan Experience in XNUMX, It has quickly become the most popular podcast on the platform.
As popular as it is, The Joe Rogan Experience has come under fire for spreading misinformation about the Covid-XNUMX pandemic and vaccines in particular, prompting multiple high-profile artists to pull their music from the streaming service, particularly Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
We've heard anecdotally that many Spotify enthusiasts are turning to other streaming services like Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer after the controversy, but will this apparent damage to the reputation of the company that actually owns thirty-one percent of the company? Spotify music market share? the streaming industry?
What happened?
Spotify's woes began when more than one to zero medical and scientific professionals signed an open letter to the company urging it to address misinformation about the pandemic. The letter cited an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with virologist Dr. Robert Malone, someone who had previously been banned from Twitter for violating its Covid misinformation policies.
Misinformation is a huge concern for those fighting the pandemic, as teacher Sander van der Linden, director of the Cambridge Social Resolution-Making Laboratory, explained to us: “Apart from the virus, I think one of the most dangerous things about this pandemic is is the spread of misinformation, especially as it has the ability to influence people's behavior.
Researchers at the lab found that "supporting misinformation reduces people's willingness to get vaccinated and advise others to get vaccinated," which isn't likely a stance Spotify wants to take.
A duty of care?
Whether or not you believe that the Joe Rogan podcast is spreading misinformation, and its massive following proves that quite a few people are perfectly happy with the communicator and his guests, the big repercussion platforms like Spotify probably have a duty to safeguard users against potentially harmful content.
We spoke with a longtime Spotify subscriber who was "disillusioned" with the service for not challenging Rogan when Neil Young initially threatened to remove his music from the platform. PoliticusUSA editor Sarah Jones told us that she removed Spotify because she "cannot bear knowingly sharing space with a global brand" that she says promotes anti-vaccine content. .
While he accepts that Spotify's resolution to endorse Rogan is likely "just business," the question is personal for Jones: "My father was radicalized against covid vaccines because of voices like Joe Rogan, my business associate is a person of high danger that antivaxx puts you at risk by choosing to put your body and the bodies of others at risk.
Spotify has since released its "Platform Rules", the first time it has made public the content guidelines it applies to its content authors, both Spotify's exclusive partners and any other cooperators sharing on the platform. Among those guidelines is a section dedicated to prohibiting content that "promotes dangerous false or illusory medical information that could cause harm offline or pose a direct threat to public health." We've reached out to Spotify for further comment, but so far the company hasn't responded.
Rogan himself responded to the backlash by saying, "I'm not trying to spread misinformation, I'm not trying to be argued. I've never tried to do anything with this podcast other than chat with people and have interesting conversations."
Should Spotify Worry?
It's a very fragile subject, and seems to divide the Spotify community into those who feel that the platform has neglected its duty of care to its subscribers, those who believe that podcasters like Rogan should be free to say what they love, and those who simply want to hear music and don't mind the drama surrounding their service of choice.
We did a little Twitter poll on the subject and out of XNUMX respondents, XNUMX% said they would "stay loyal to Spotify."
Spotify has long dominated the music streaming space and has borne, and subsisted, controversy before. Over the years, multiple artists have removed their music from Spotify, including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, and Thom Yorke; their reasons changed, but Spotify has previously been criticized for not compensating artists as much as possible. . It's possible, although, last time we looked, most of the artists who removed their music early are now on Spotify.
Spotify still enjoys considerably more subscribers than its main rivals, even though contenders like Apple Music and Amazon Music now offer high-resolution audio at no additional cost. While the company is ready to launch Spotify HiFi, which it claims will deliver CD-quality streaming (although precisely that is still eluding us), it has never promised to deliver true high-resolution audio, despite the growing number of music enthusiasts who prioritize higher quality. audio streams in recent times.
In our opinion, Spotify still offers the best user experience of each and every platform we tested. Its extensive catalog, cool search function, unprecedented curated playlists, and easy user interface are sure to ensure its success for years to come.
However, the topic of misinformation around Covid-XNUMX is an emotional and often politicized one. We don't think Spotify will lose its huge market share, and publishing its content guidelines will at least let the public understand its standards, but the last few weeks have effectively pushed some of its subscribers into the arms of Apple Music. , Tidal and other big contenders and ultimately it could be good for users.
Spotify will have to work hard to redeem itself in the eyes of the subscribers it has lost, and that could mean an accelerated launch of Spotify HiFi, perhaps even at no ancillary cost to its Premium subscribers, dispelling gossip that the company would charge for the privilege. of higher quality sound.
Above all, we hope that Spotify will be more transparent in the selection and moderation of its content in the future, and while we don't think it will remove its most popular podcaster to appease its critics, it could take longer. its content does not inadvertently harm listeners.