Spotify has only spent 10% of diversity budget promised after Joe Rogan controversy

Spotify has only spent 10 per cent of the $100 million it pledged to use to support diversity, it has been reported.

The streaming service pledged the money in 2022, following criticism of giving a platform to podcaster Joe Rogan.

In 2021, the 54-year-old podcaster interviewed widely discredited doctor Robert Malone, who claimed on his show The Joe Rogan Experience that Americans were “hypnotised” into wearing masks and getting vaccines.

Soon after that, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals started asking Spotify to address Covid misinformation on Mr Rogan’s controversial episodes about vaccines.

This resulted in an onslaught of musicians and public figures including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle asking Spotify to remove their music and podcasts from the platform.

Although Spotify removed 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience from their platform, they did not terminate Rogan’s contract.

In a memo obtained by Variety at the time, Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek wrote: “I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer… cancelling voices is a slippery slope.

“If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds.”

Instead, last February Spotify pledged to commit $100 million to “licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalised groups.”

Rogan’s deal with Spotify was reportedly worth more than double that figure.

However, a new report by Bloomberg has detailed that Spotify has only spent 10% of the pledged money.

The report states that the Creator Equity Fund has spent so little due to suffering from “shifting priorities” and being “behind schedule” on staff needed to manage the project.

According to the publication’s report, the fund – which was planned to be distributed over three years  – did not have clear objectives for the allocation of the money.

The Independent has contacted a representative of Spotify for comment.