Spotify’s Daniel Ek Defends Joe Rogan and Hosting Content ‘We Disagree With Strongly’ in Heated Town Hall; Stock Hits 21-Month Low

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify’s staff was up in arms about the company and co-founder/CEO Daniel Ek’s defense of Joe Rogan in a town hall meeting Wednesday that followed its middling quarterly report and subsequent stock drop, according to a report in the Verge that cites a leaked audio recording of the meeting.In Ek’s 15-minute speech, he positioned the company as both a platform and publisher, saying that “There are many things that Joe Rogan says that I strongly disagree with and find very offensive,” he said, but defended the company’s relationship with the controversial podcaster by stating, “If we want even a shot at achieving our bold ambitions, it will mean having content on Spotify that many of us may not be proud to be associated with.

Not anything goes, but there will be opinions, ideas, and beliefs that we disagree with strongly and even makes us angry or sad.” Reps for Spotify did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.

Spotify shares were down more than 16% in midday trading, to a 21-month low for the stock.According to company staffers cited by the Verge, employees had been “skeptically awaiting” the town hall meeting for days as the controversy accelerated around Spotify’s exclusive podcast deal with Rogan and the Covid-19 and vaccination misinformation espoused by some of his guests.

The situation has led to criticism from the medical and science community, and for artists including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and other musicians and podcasters to ask for their music to be removed from the service.According to the report, Ek said Rogan’s program was the most searched podcast on the platform, and that it was vital to the success of the company’s podcasting business, which.