Spotify Announces Advisory, Warning Around COVID-19 After Joe Rogan Controversy

In the wake of the recent controversy around Joe Rogan, on the platform, music streaming giant Spotify has announced it will show an advisory and warning related to the content around COVID-19.

Spotify Announces Advisory, Warning Around COVID-19 After Joe Rogan Controversy/Getty

New Delhi: In the wake of the recent controversy around Joe Rogan, on the platform, music streaming giant Spotify has announced it will show an advisory and warning related to the content around COVID-19. According to the Swedish company, it is working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19. The announcement comes after Spotify lost millions in market value following the Joe Rogan and Neil Young controversy that gave way to the latter pulling his music from the platform.

In a bid to tackle misinformation and stop popular musicians from withdrawing their music, the company CEO Daniel Ek has released an official statement. "We are working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19. This advisory will direct listeners to our dedicated COVID-19 Hub, a resource that provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources," Ek said in a statement late on Sunday.

"This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days. To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform."

The streaming giant also clarified its long-standing platform rules and highlighting them the company CEO added: "These policies were developed by our internal team in concert with a number of outside experts and are updated regularly to reflect the changing safety landscape. These are rules of the road to guide all of our creators -- from those we work with exclusively to those whose work is shared across multiple platforms."

Spotify is not the first company to announce resources for COVID-19 vaccines and information around the disease. Last year, social networking giant Facebook took a similar step and announced it would remove misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines and their side effects.

Meanwhile, Spotify lost billions of dollars in the wake of the Joe Rogan controversy after Neil Young pulled his music off the platform, followed by legendary singer Joni Mitchell pulling her playlist off the platform. Several artists criticised the misinformation around COVID-19 being spread on the Rogan Experience that was a Spotify exclusive podcast.