Position Paper 2 - Crisis Management

 Spotify: The Joe Rogan Controversy 

Spotify has become very popular for music streamers over the past few years. Although I don't use Spotify, many of my friends and family do. The streaming service has had an excellent reputation with its subscribers; however, this has not protected it from a scandal that has recently brought Spotify into a dim light. 

In 2020, Spotify announced that they would be offering Joe Rogan's Podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, on their platform. Reportedly, Spotify offered Rogan $200 million to exclusively have his podcast on the streaming service for three and a half years. 

Who is Joe Rogan?

Before becoming a significant podcasting personality, Joe Rogan has had many career highlights. By nineteen, Rogan won the U.S. Open Tae Kwon Do Championship and obtained the Grand Championship as a lightweight champion. He became a color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and has done so since 2002. Rogan has also been a successful comedian for twenty years and has had multiple comedy specials, including Joe Rogan: Strange Times that premiered on Netflix in 2018. Along with hosting the popular NBC competition reality show Fear Factor, he appeared in films such as zookeeper (2011) and Here Comes the Boom (2012). Joe Rogan's website says the following about his podcast:
"The Joe Rogan Experience podcast is a long-form conversation hosted by comedian Joe Rogan with friends and guests that have included comedians, actors, musicians, MMA fighters, authors, artists, and beyond."

Link to Podcast 
Rogan has hosted almost a thousand guests on his podcasts. These guests include Elon Musk, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jay Leno, Lance Armstrong, Ben Shapiro, Kevin Hart, Dave Chapelle, and many more. Multiple sources refer to Joe Rogan as "the world's most popular podcaster." Two of these sources include The Week and KSAT.com. The Joe Rogan Experience has collected fans worldwide. When Spotify first put the podcast on its platform, it caused some countries to lose its availability because fans could only find it exclusively on Spotify. After this, fans created petitions to make the podcast available in their country. The podcast has become so popular worldwide that an Irish podcast has become equally popular by solely discussing The Joe Rogan Experience. 

What is the Crisis?

Despite Joe Rogan and his podcast's popularity worldwide, he has come under some controversy recently. The crisis began after Rogan had virologist Dr. Robert Malone as a guest on his podcast. Twitter previously banned Malone for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. In the episode, Malone claimed that the efficacy of vaccines is due to "mass formation psychosis." On January 24, Neil Young announced that he would remove his music from Spotify due to scientists claiming that Rogan was spreading false information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists such as Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Failure, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and more have also left the platform after Neil Young announced his removal. 

Joe Rogan's podcast itself seemed to be doing fine amid Young's decision to leave Spotify; however, another issue arose. Soon after, a compilation depicting Rogan using racial slurs on his podcast went viral. Rogan deleted the episodes where he used offensive slurs and uploaded an apology to his Instagram. He claimed that the videos were taken "out of context," and many viewers claimed he brushed over the subject and did not take responsibility. 

How has Spotify Managed the Crisis?


I specifically want to discuss Spotify's management of the crisis rather than Rogan himself.  Spotify first responded to the controversy by publishing its content policies. The company also announced that they would be adding content advisories for any material that mentions COVID-19. According to CNBC, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek claims he  "feels good" about handling the Joe Rogan controversy. He also explained that "the company is trying to support creative expressionism while ensuring user safety." Ek told CNBC:
"I think the important part here is that we don't change our policies based on one creator, nor do we change it based on any media cycle or calls from anyone else. Our policies have been carefully written with the input from numbers of internal and external experts in this space. And I do believe they are right for our platform. And while Joe has a massive audience - he is actually the number one podcast in more than 90 markets - he also has to abide by those policies."

Daniel Ek also released a memo to employees regarding Rogan's comments. He apologizes for the drama that has ensued around Rogan and how the employees have endured it. He apologizes explicitly for the racial slurs and then comments on how Rogan has chosen to remove those episodes from the podcast. He admits that he "condemns" Rogan but does not think "silencing Rogan is the answer." 

How Have People Reacted to Spotify's Management? 

There have been mixed reactions to Spotify's management of the issue. Notably, employees and its board directors were alarmed by how long it took Ek to comment. Also, many think that keeping Joe Rogan on the platform may be a mistake. According to a statement made by crisis consultant Steven Fink to TIME magazine, "it shows that they care more about profits than their reputation."

Although Spotify's decision to keep Rogan on the platform may be due to profit, it may also be due to its headquarters. The Chicago Tribune claims that Ek's decision may be due to a cultural divide. Spotify's headquarters is located in Sweden, around 4,000 miles away from the United States. Sweden is also where Ek, and other long-term employees, are based. Free expression is taken seriously in Sweden. For example, in 2018, Spotify removed music by XXXTentacion and R. Kelly for offensive content or conduct. Many people from Sweden and the U.S. were angry about this, and it ultimately led Spotify to return the content to the platform. 

Many also think that removing Rogan from Spotify would alienate his fans and "set a slippery precedent with other podcasters." In the memo sent to employees, Ek stated that "canceling voices is a slippery slope," and ultimately removing episodes from the podcast was best. 

Conclusion 

Regardless of whether or not you think Joe Rogan should continue to host his show on Spotify, I do not necessarily believe that the company managed the crisis poorly. Of course, Ek should have commented on the subject faster, and Spotify also made no comments to social media; however, I think Ek knew precisely what he was losing if he removed Rogan from the platform. Rogan brings over 11 million listeners to his podcast, which hasn't changed since the controversy. Although Spotify will inevitably lose listeners, they would lose more by removing the podcast. Many Spotify users will feel indifferent about whether or not Rogan is on the platform. According to some, they like that Spotify added warnings to The Joe Rogan Experience episodes. Overall, I think Spotify could have done better with managing the crisis, but the company is heading in the right direction. 

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