Showbiz, baby: Spotify must platform responsibly
In the first edition of my column, I’d like to make a formal introduction: My name is Sarah Hendartono and I am anti-Joe Rogan. Say what you want and call me a hater, but this is not a hot take. If you won’t take it from me, take it from the artists protesting against him.
Over the past few weeks, Spotify and Rogan have been under fire for Rogan’s spread of coronavirus misinformation and a video compilation circulating of the podcaster using a racial slur during various episodes.
The controversy began when Neil Young pulled all of his music from Spotify in late January in protest of the misinformation that “The Joe Rogan Experience” promoted. In a three-hour long episode, Rogan sat down with Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease researcher and vaccine skeptic, and made baseless claims about the pandemic and vaccines. Following the episode, hundreds of medical professionals signed an open letter to urge Spotify “to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.”
While few other artists followed Young, the singer’s actions made this a high-profile issue and gathered press attention nationwide. In response, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said the streaming site is a platform rather than a publisher, which makes them responsible for distribution instead of supervision. So my question for Spotify is this: How do you market yourself as a platform when you have a multimillion-dollar deal with Rogan to exclusively stream his podcast?
Honestly, Ek’s statement seems like an easy way out. It’s not like any other platform currently faces the same problem. If you exclusively host one of the most listened-to podcasts worldwide, you need to take responsibility for its content. Or, better yet, Rogan should stop giving a voice to people that will spread misinformation. Either Rogan is ignorant and doesn’t realize the influence his podcast has, or he simply doesn’t care – my guess is the latter.
Of course, the controversy doesn’t stop there. India.Arie, another artist that pulled her music from Spotify, shared a video of Rogan uttering a racial slur multiple times across past episodes. The podcaster has since posted an apology video on Instagram and said the clips were taken out of context but that the video looked “horrible, even to me.”
I shouldn’t have to explain why racial slurs shouldn’t be used in any context. This is a grown man that understands how language should be used and made the conscious decision to use slurs multiple times. Even in his apology, something about that “even to me” doesn’t quite sit right. It’s almost as if he knows he’s not a good person…
After meeting with Spotify executives, Rogan took down 70 episodes from the streaming site.
These episodes shouldn’t have gone up in the first place. All of this comes down to Spotify’s irresponsibility and Joe Rogan’s moral corruptness. Spotify standing by him is not a good look. On its hiring website, the company states that it “wants to help shape a world that is welcoming for people of all backgrounds and identities, that centers justice and equity.” Yet, here it is in reality, exclusively promoting a podcaster that is willing to use racial slurs across 12 years of his show. If you advertise social responsibility as an incentive for people to work for you, you should probably apply it to your content.
While I’m not one to say cancel culture is always beneficial, people should’ve canceled “The Joe Rogan Experience” a long time ago. Let’s listen to what artists pulling their music have to say. It may be a small group, but their influence is finally bringing the problem with Rogan to light. They exemplify what it means to have a platform and how to use it for good. Hopefully, their influence can bring change to the streaming industry. But, frankly, they also shouldn’t be the ones responsible for this issue.
Either Spotify needs to better moderate its content or people need to stop giving Joe Rogan a platform to begin with.
Sarah Hendartono is a sophomore writing about current events in the entertainment industry. She is also the page design director at the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Showbiz, Baby,” runs every other Tuesday.