Spotify Changes Policy on Joe Rogan as Neil Young Inspires More Music Legends to Remove Songs

Spotify responded to Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Nils Lofgren‘s decision to have their music pulled from the streaming platform to protest its platforming of Joe Rogan on Sunday. The company said it will add a COVID-19 advisory to podcasts that discuss the pandemic and will finally make its platform rules public. Young demanded his record label and management remove his music from Spotify unless the streamer did something about The Joe Rogan Experience episodes discussing skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines and spreading misinformation, but Spotify let Young leave the platform, which inspired the other music legends to follow him.

On Sunday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek claimed that their platform policies have been “in place for many years, but admittedly, we haven’t been transparent around the policies that guide our content more broadly.” He continued, “This, in turn, led to questions around their application to serious issues including COVID-19.”

As criticism of Spotify’s continuing silence about Rogan’s controversial podcast mounted, it “became clear” to Ek that the company has an “obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time.” One of the steps they are taking in response to the controversy is making the Platform Rules public on the Spotify website.

Next, the company will add a “content advisory” to any podcast that includes discussions about COVID-19. The advisory will tell listeners to check out Spotify’s COVID-19 Hub, which includes podcast episodes featuring interviews with doctors, scientists, academics, and international public health authorities, and links to trusted sources. “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,” Ek wrote.

Lastly, Ek wrote that Spotify will make the platform rules clearer in its creator and publishing tools to “raise awareness around what’s acceptable and help creators understand their accountability for the content they post on our platform.” That will be in “addition to the terms that creators and publishers agree to governing their use of our services.” Spotify didn’t say what it plans to do if anyone violates the Platform Rules, and Rogan’s name is not mentioned once.

Ek’s statement came in response to some of the loudest public outcry against Spotify’s relationship with Rogan thanks to Young. After Warner Music agreed to remove the “Heart of Gold” singer‘s music from Spotify, Mitchell and Lofgren’s music followed. “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” Mitchell wrote in a statement on her website. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”