(REUTERS): Spotify Technology’s shares fell 5 percent after Joe Rogan’s podcast was briefly not accessible on the company’s streaming platform.
The podcast can now be accessed and Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has been under fire after Rogan, who signed a $100-million deal with Spotify in 2020, aired controversial Covid19 views on his show and drew protests from artists Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and India Arie.
Spotify’s Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff told advertisers at a conference last week that the backlash around Rogan’s podcast had been a “real learning experience” for the streaming service.
The company’s shares, which have fallen about 59% since hitting a record high nearly a year ago, were trading at $151.16 on the New York Stock Exchange.
In January, a group of medical community members penned a letter to the company asking it to remove a Rogan episode they said peddled COVID-19 misinformation. Musician Neil Young read that letter and subsequently pulled his catalog from the platform in response.
“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” he wrote. “Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”
Since then, inside Spotify, CEO Daniel Ek issued multiple statements about his reluctance to moderate Rogan’s show beyond its platform rules, which were only made public after Young and others pulled their music.
