A new report stated that Spotify employees are extremely bothered that the music streaming platform has not censored “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. According to Digital Music News, a self-described source for music industry news and analysis, Spotify employees are so angered about Rogan’s free speech that they have threatened a “full-blown strike” if the. See ya Spotify if you don’t protect free speech and fast. You had 1,500+ JRE episodes to see what you were getting. I’ll cancel Spotify immediately if they attempt to censor free speech.
According to a recent report, employees at the music streaming service Spotify have been fighting over the inclusion of certain episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on the platform over claims that they are “transphobic.”
Vice reports that employees at the music streaming service Spotify are upset about the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which is exclusively on Spotify after it signed Joe Rogan to a megadeal, claiming certain episodes and guests are “transphobic.”
CEO Daniel Ek reportedly addressed such concerns in an all-hands meeting on Wednesday in which he stated: “In the case of Joe Rogan, a total of 10 meetings have been held with various groups and individuals to hear their respective concerns.”
Vice News reported that sources shared questions that had been submitted for the Q&A portion of the meeting, they include: “Why has Spotify chosen to ignore Spectrum ERG’s guidance about transphobic content in the JRE catalog?” Another asked: “Many LGBTQAI+/ally Spotifiers feel unwelcome and alienated because of leadership’s response in JRE conversations. What is your message to those employees?”
Breitbart News reported in May that Rogan had signed a deal with Spotify to move his podcast exclusively to the Spotify platform. The podcast debuted on Spotify on September 1 on a non-exclusive basis but will become exclusive to the Spotify platform later in the year under the multiyear licensing deal.
Ek reportedly told employees during the recent all-hands meeting: “Joe Rogan and the episode in question have been reviewed extensively. The fact that we aren’t changing our position doesn’t mean we aren’t listening. It just means we made a different judgment call.”
Ek also instructed employees not to leak conversations to the media — which they promptly did — telling them that if they did so they would be excluded from future content moderation discussions, stating: “If we can’t have open, confidential debates, we will have to move those discussions to closed doors.”
When Rogan’s podcast debuted on Spotify, many noted that certain episodes were missing including those featuring Alex Jones of InfoWars, Gavin McInnes, and the comedian Joey Diaz. At launch, some guests from the missing shows commented that their shows would be added in due course. That has not happened in many cases — the episodes are still missing from Spotify with no explanation from the company or Rogan.
One Twitter user posted a list of episodes that have allegedly been removed from Spotify’s catalog:
I just went through the Spotify list of all Joe Rogan episodes and here are the current missing episodes. #JRE#Spotify#censorshippic.twitter.com/DgFLLyibhG
— ChⒶnce (@Chanceb4rapper) September 18, 2020
Many have jumped to Rogan’s defense, insisting that Spotify include all of Rogan’s content and that implications that he is transphobic are unfounded:
Calling @joerogan transphobic is absurd. @Spotify if you censor JRE in hopes of pacifying the woke mob, you don't understand the value of nuanced conversation. Podcasting is about respecting the intelligence of listeners. Reason and love is the way forward, not censorship.
— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) September 18, 2020
.@joerogan's show is one of the last forums for free discussion, and now the woke employees of Spotify are trying to destroy it.
Joe's 'sin' was my show. Please watch it, it so you can see what a reasonable discussion looks like – before it's gone:https://t.co/vM2pEPNXhmhttps://t.co/llJab6EaQD
— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) September 17, 2020
Breitbart News will continue to follow this story as more information is available.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolanor contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
Joe Rogan got more than a reported $100 million payday in his epic Spotify deal earlier this year. The comic turned podcaster inherited the Cancel Culture crusade, and it’s flaring up on him months before he officially segues to Spotify full time.
The “NewsRadio” alum burnished his podcasting bona fides by talking to everyone about, well, everything. He cracked wise with conspiracy hurler Alex Jones, talked policy with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and chatted up any number of MMA stars.
Along the way Rogan’s audience learned to trust him in a way that isn’t easy to accomplish. Conservatives, in particular, cheered his pro-free speech approach even if he wouldn’t go near a MAGA hat. Rogan appears left-of-center in several ways, going so far as to endorse Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders earlier this year. Rogan’s common-sense attitude, and his lust for hunting and MMA, made him both refreshing and fearless.
He’s the furthest thing from a “snowflake,” and that’s catnip to Red State USA.
Those qualities, along with an unwillingness to support trans female athletes competing against other women, also put a target on his back for the social justice mob. That group grumbled when Rogan endorsed Sanders, but that was but a warm-up act.
Now, they’re demanding Rogan change his ways … or else.
The trouble began with news reports of tensions within Team Spotify after parts of Rogan’s back catalogue joined the company’s lineup. Spotify workers held 10 separates meetings with CEO Daniel Ek expressing concerns about their new hire.
Some staff inside the company feel alienated by Spotify’s hosting of certain The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) episodes, according to copies of some of the questions presented to the meeting obtained by Motherboard….
One of the submitted questions was “Many LGBTQAI+/ally Spotifiers feel unwelcome and alienated because of leadership’s response in JRE conversations. What is your message to those employees?” Another was “Why has Spotify chosen to ignore Spectrum ERG’s guidance about transphobic content in the JRE catalog?”, referring to a group of Spotify workers who focus on related issues.
Far left activists also loathe Rogan for “deadnaming” Caitlyn Jenner and poking fun at the former Olympian’s family’s public squabbles, joking it factored into the gender transition.
So far, Ek has Rogan’s back. The pressure increased this week, though, with Spotify employees threatening a walk out or even a strike unless they have control over the podcast’s content.
That would include the ability to directly edit or remove sections of upcoming interviews, or block the uploading of episodes deemed problematic. The employees also demanded the ability to add trigger warnings, corrections, and references to fact-checked articles on topics discussed by Rogan in the course of his multi-hour discussions.
The potential strike, according to Digital Music News, would feature N.Y.-based Spotify employees, at first, and include protests in front of the company’s Manhattan headquarters. The complaints would spread from there to include media outreach and alliances with like-minded activists.
The media isn’t doing Rogan many favors in the current fight.
Vice called Rogan “transphobic” in a headline about the podcaster’s Spotify battle. The same reporters who rallied to protect Netflix’s “Cuties” from its legion of legitimate critics haven’t rushed to defend Rogan’s free speech.
And they likely won’t.
Rogan appears to be staying quiet on the matter, letting the in-fighting take place behind the scenes. It may be the best approach, allowing Ek defend his high-profile hire.
As he should. Little of Rogan’s brand was a secret prior to Spotify forking over millions to host his podcast.
Should Spotify bow to the mob it will be a blow to more than Rogan’s considerable empire. If woke Millennials can make a massive company like Spotify bend to their will, few cultural voices are safe.
That ending would also reinforce a lesson Jason Whitlock of Outkick fame shares regarding the current media climate.
How To Censor Spotify Music
Truly independent thinkers in the Rogan mold are better off creating their own platforms instead of assuming corporate behemoths will let them speak their minds, Whitlock says.
It’s why Adam Carolla remains the captain of his self-described “pirate ship” even while his former creative partner, Jimmy Kimmel, rose higher up the corporate ladder via ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmy Live.”
Spotify Censor Free Speech App
Then again, Kimmel was forced to shout “Black Lives Matter!” over and again while hosting this year’s Emmy’s telecast.
Did Kimmel really have any choice in the matter?
Does Spotify Censor Music
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Spotify Censors Rogan
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