While the platform still makes 95pc of its sales from music, the margins from streams remain thin at a time when calls from artists for a bigger slice of the spoils are growing ever louder.Įk's apparent concern also masks the fact that the backlash – and the global publicity it has generated – might just be one of the best things that has ever happened to the podcast division on which Spotify has bet future hopes of growth.īy rallying around Rogan, Spotify is not just protecting a talent signed in a deal worth some $100m (£74m), but its wider bet that podcasting will provide the path it needs to more profitable growth.įor Ek, it is a question of ownership.

'That doesn’t mean that we always get it right, but we are committed to learning, growing and evolving,' he concluded.Įk's refusal to capitulate to rock and folk royalty by allowing Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to remove their songbooks told a story about where Spotify's priorities now lie. 'It is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them. 'We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users,' Ek wrote in an open letter on Sunday. The head of the world's biggest streaming platform promised that rules governing the streaming app would be published for all to see, while podcasts discussing coronavirus would be slapped with badges warning of controversial content. As a phalanx of ageing rockers rounded on Spotify's superstar podcaster Joe Rogan for touting vaccine misinformation, Daniel Ek clearly judged the backlash had gone on for long enough.

Spotify joe rogan 200m