Like Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan's strong statements in his podcasts have sparked controversy among communities. Many pointed their fingers at Spotify for streaming them in the first place, and the music streaming service is continuously making amends.
Creator Equity Fund
Spotify has allotted $100 million for its Creator Equity Fund, which is meant to bring in diverse sets of content creators for both music and podcasts in its first year. However, reports say that the company has only spent a little over ten percent of it over three years.
There is no solid structure in which funding for the effort is approved, and Spotify hasn't been hiring staff as much, according to Engadget. Some have already criticized the company's lack of spending such as the Spotify podcast network with unionized workers, Parcast.
In the $100,000 designated for "diversity plans" in February, only $5,000 was reportedly spent. Spotify responded by enumerating the projects it did support for the sake of diversity such as Glow, which is an LGBTQ+ music promotion program.
The music streaming service also listed other of its projects like campaigns for particular Black artists like Kaytranada, Latino or Latina creators, and the funding which aims to support development at Black colleges and universities.
Even if the company does spend all the funds on the Creator Equity Fund, it's still far from the rumored $200 million deal it has with Joe Rogan, if it is to be believed. The former UFC commentator is said to be in a contract that would last three and a half years.
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The Joe Rogan Issue
Spotify has been criticized for its content, specifically for Joe Rogan's podcast named "The Joe Rogan Experience." For one, Rogan was accused of spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 virus and vaccine.
Rogan was also criticized along with the streaming service for his use of racial slurs. In response, Spotify took down around 100 episodes of his podcast. However, this did not help since a lot of it resurfaced online as other listeners recorded it.
Although Rogan was accused of using racist language and transphobic statements, the music streaming service continued to defend Joe Rogan back in 2020.
Many artists and listeners have called for boycotts and even left the service voluntarily in protest. This was brought on by his interview with Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist and vaccine skeptic, according to The New York Times.
In the three-hour interview, there was an instance where the vaccine was likened to Nazi medical experiments. The conversation even led to talk about President Biden not being vaccinated and misinterpretations of government data.
In the same interview regarding vaccine injuries, Rogan claims that people have said that around one in 1,000 are getting significant injuries like myocarditis. The study where the figure was taken from has been retracted due to inaccuracy.
Dr. Malone expressed that the mandate of an experimental vaccine is illegal and that they were inconsistent with the Nuremberg Code. However, the Covid-19 vaccines do not fit the criteria since they are not experimental vaccines at all.
