The controversial podcast hosted by Joe Rogan has been inaccessible on Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) at least twice now in a span of less than a week. The latest disappearance had been reported earlier today but the podcast can now be accessed again.
The podcast first quickly went inaccessible for a brief time on Friday. A Spotify spokesperson said, “it’s a technical issue affecting a number of [its] shows.” Shares of the streaming platform went down as much as 5% during the brief disappearance.
Spotify has been facing social media uproar in recent weeks for keeping the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience after criticisms of spreading controversial COVID-19 misinformation. This follows after Canadian musician Neil Young issued an ultimatum on the platform if they keep Rogan’s podcast. Young, along with other artists like Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren, has since removed their content from the platform.
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The podcast host has since apologized while Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has defended the company’s policies on freedom of speech. However, Ek has promised that the platform would be more transparent and add a “content advisory” to episodes that contain COVID-19 information.
The Joe Rogan Experience has consistently been topping the platform’s podcast charts.
In a New York Times article, it was surmised that while the contract between the host and the platform is reportedly worth more than $100 million, “the true value of the deal that was negotiated at the time, which covered 3.5 years, was at least $200 million.”
With the disappearance of the podcast seemingly affecting the platform’s shares, one could question the frequency of inaccessibility in a short time, especially in the midst of the podcast host’s controversy.
Spotify last traded at US$152.27 on NYSE, down 4.37% on the day.
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