CEO tells Spotify to add advice to podcasts talking about COVID-19 – National

After the protests of Spotify started by Neil Young on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation about vaccines, the music streaming service said it would add content advisors before podcasts discuss the virus.

In a post Sunday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek made the platform rules more transparent in the face of backlash from Young, who on Wednesday removed his music from Spotify after he The tech giant refuses to remove episodes of Joe Rogan’s Experiencewhich has been criticized for spreading misinformation about the virus.

“Personally, there are many individuals and views on Spotify with which I strongly disagree,” Ek wrote. “It’s important to me that we don’t take the position of moderating content while at the same time making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who break them.”

Ek said that advisors will link to Spotify’s fact-based COVID-19 hub, which he describes as a “new effort to combat misinformation.” It will launch in the coming days, Ek said. He didn’t specifically mention Rogan or Young.

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who signed a multi-year deal to produce and host podcasts for Spotify under their production company Archewell Audio, on Sunday Japan has called on Spotify to deal with misinformation about the virus.

“Last April, our co-founders began voicing concerns to our partners at Spotify about all of the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on the platform. of it,” an Archewell spokesperson said in a statement. “We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure that changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look forward to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it is. ”

3:06
Music fans get mixed up when Neil Young, other artists sell song rights

The previous Sunday, Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen guitarist and member of Crazy Horse, a frequent collaborator with Young, said he was joining Young’s Spotify uprising. Lofgren said he has been deleting music for the past 27 years and asked his previous music production labels to do the same.

“We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere to stand with us and sever ties with Spotify,” Lofgren wrote in a statement.

On Friday, Joni Mitchell said she is looking to remove all her music from Spotify in solidarity with Young. Before that, hundreds of scientists, professors and public health experts asked Spotify to remove a December 31 episode from Joe Rogan’s Experience in it he introduced Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease expert who was banned on Twitter for spreading disinformation about COVID-19.