Spotify is not a social media platform

Hey everyone, it’s Sarah Frier. Spotify released a statement about its Joe Rogan controversy that sounded awfully familiar. But first…Today’ [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey everyone, it’s Sarah Frier. Spotify released a statement about its Joe Rogan controversy that sounded awfully familiar. But first… Today’s top tech news: - Sony is buying Destiny game developer Bungie [for $3.6 billion]( - Bolt’s Ryan Breslow is [leaving the company]( shortly after an incendiary tweetstorm - The New York Times [bought Wordle]( The Daniel Ek experience You know things are bad when a company wants critics to think it’s like Facebook. In Spotify Technology SA’s response to outrage over its hosting of Covid-19 misinformation, its chief executive officer [borrowed many of the same lines]( that the social media giant uses when it’s caught in a similar mess. CEO Daniel Ek vowed to provide greater transparency around Spotify’s content rules and said he wanted to support “expression while balancing it with the safety of our users.” And just like Meta Plaforms Inc.’s Facebook, Spotify will be labeling content with warnings and directing users to a Covid-19 information hub with input from scientists and world health experts. But Spotify is not Facebook. The objectionable content at issue comes not from a video or politician that happened to go viral, but from The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast Spotify paid for the privilege of distributing exclusively on its service, in a licensing deal [worth about $100 million](. Spotify executives are not shocked at the nature of Rogan’s pandemic content; the podcast deal was inked in May 2020, when Rogan was already a highly [controversial figure](. And critically: Spotify isn’t a user-generated content company, it’s a curator and publisher of selected media. Rogan is the cornerstone of its podcasting business. Facebookers took notice of the similarities to the social media giant’s messaging. Spotify is "slapping the language of social media onto their media company,” said one former Facebook employee, who asked not to be identified discussing the company. But as a financier and publisher, Spotify has power over the actual content that ends up on its service in a way Facebook doesn’t. Buying Rogan’s content helps Spotify tap into a larger audience, but it also could change the company’s brand. Progressives will now have to decide if they want to ink deals with the same distributor. Already, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have pulled their music. Though Spotify's statement received quick pushback, Rogan delivered his own take on the controversy. Wearing a hoodie and speaking calmly into the camera, he explained that he's still getting comfortable with the idea that he has such a hugely popular podcast — it’s "some out-of-control juggernaut that I barely have control over" — and pledged to take more responsibility for the perspectives he hosts. He [thanked Spotify and his supporters](, "and even thank you to the haters because it's good to have some haters," he said. "It makes you reassess what you're doing and put things into perspective." Spotify’s response does appear to have [boosted its faltering stock price](. Meanwhile, the company’s framing of the problem – which doesn’t mention Rogan by name – sends a message that its executives don’t want to negotiate with him about what he can say in his podcasts. And as my colleague Lucas Shaw [has noted](, it’s also an attempt to stop the crisis before any other, even bigger artists speak out. So, Rogan remains. And if his fans use the boycotts and threat of censorship as a rallying cry, Spotify will be the main beneficiary. —[Sarah Frier](mailto:sfrier1@bloomberg.net) If you read one thing The teenager who turned down a $5,000 offer from Elon Musk to stop tracking his private jet is now [targeting other billionaire jets]( as he waits for Musk to come back to the bargaining table. Here’s what you need to know A Spotify podcast called “Science Vs” will devote itself to fact-checking Joe Rogan and [other Spotify content](. Gay dating app Grindr removed the app from [Apple’s App Store in China](, citing difficulties with the country’s Personal Information Protection Law. A key figure behind Sony’s multibillion-dollar smartphone game Fate/Grand Order is [going independent](. Europe’s green energy push is faltering without support from [nuclear power plants](. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both? Like Fully Charged? | [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Fully Charged newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](