Spotify CEO told employees that Joe Rogan is necessary for the streamer to achieve its 'bold ambitio

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

ambitions' and 'find leverage' over competitors

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defended the company's decision to continue airing Joe Rogan's controversial podcast in a 15-minute speech to employees at a company town hall on Wednesday, according to a leaked audio recording obtained by The Verge.

"If we want even a shot at achieving our bold ambitions, it will mean having content on Spotify that many of us may not be proud to be associated with," Ek said, according to The Verge. "Not anything goes, but there will be opinions, ideas, and beliefs that we disagree with strongly and even makes us angry or sad."

The podcast has come under fire for promoting COVID-19 misinformation, leading artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to remove their music from the streamer in protest.

Spotify did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/spotify-ceo-told-employees-joe-170218900.html

[NewHendoLib]

1. Or, "it's all about money. Fuck decency and humanity"

[maxrandb]

8. It's more about "fuck Democracy"

That is the aim of Hate Radio.

All Spotify, Facebook and social media are is the culmination of 40 years of unchallenged HATE.

Throw in a few Russian and American Oligarchs and this is how Democracy dies.

[Caliman73]

2. His "bold ambition" is to make money.

If Rogan had 50,000 listeners instead of 100 million, they'd have chucked his ass to the curb quickly.

[Zen Democrat]

6. Don't pump him up! He doesn't have 100 million listeners!

Spotify PAYS him $100 million, but Joe Rogan has circa 11 million daily listeners on his podcast.

[Caliman73]

14. My bad. I got the money and the people mixed up.

The point is however, that he brings ears and eyes, and money to the table. If he was a small content creator, he would not be worth fighting for.

[lagomorph777]

9. His bold ambition is to get paid by Putin.

I imagine this speech sent many employees to the exits.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. "Not Anything Goes"?

Exactly what would be too far if spreading disinformation about a deadly pandemic is not?
Strictly a money grab. I wouldn't like it, but I'd respect it more if he just admitted it's strictly about money

[dalton99a]

4. Be Bold. Go REAL Nazi 24/7.

Daniel Ek

[RockRaven]

5. "People must die as a result of our work if we're going to hit our revenue targets"

Now anyone working for Spotify has no room to claim "I didn't know, I never agreed to that." It's laid out crystal clear -- they refuse to allow the consequences of their content influence their content production decisions. Okay. It's on all of your heads then. It isn't Joe Rogan killing people with quackery, it is the entire company of Spotify.

[orwell]

11. That is the line...

...and Spotify crossed it.

The only thing they will understand is a wholesale refutation of this moral decay through subscriber action. Bullshit talks, money walks!

The only thing any corporate capitalist understands is the bottom line. The public corporate charter legally demands "shareholder value" above all else, including morality, human life, or even planetary collapse.

But once the bottom line starts to shrink, the old "morality" is "no longer operational..."

[rockfordfile]

7. Time for more Artists to leave that pos

[Boomerproud]

10. Not on my time or my dime Daniel Ek.

It's time people stop giving these people a voice and power.

[RandiFan1290]

12. lol

[Happy Hoosier]

13. In summary, "We're shit merchants, and if people are buying, we're selling."

What a fucking disgrace.

[MineralMan]

15. "Besides," Ek said, "We're coining money from Rogan's podcasts!"