In February of last year, as controversy broiled around Joe Rogan’s racially charged language and COVID-related misinformation on multiple editions of his Spotify podcast, the streaming giant’s CEO attempted to defuse the situation by apologizing to his aggrieved staff and pledging $100 million “for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”
Nearly 14 months later, that $100 million “Creator Equity Fund” has spent less than 10% of its funding on that work,” according to a report in Bloomberg. The initiative was behind schedule in hiring an eight-person staff to oversee the project and “has suffered from shifting priorities,” the report said, citing unnamed people familiar with the effort. At the beginning of this year, the fund had not completed its 2023 budget and had not determined its priority projects, according to a memo the publication said it had obtained, and another fund intended to promote diversity in podcasts suffered after that business was hit by layoffs last year, a union representing workers said.
The $100 million was designed to be used over three years, according to Bloomberg’s sources, but the streaming service lacked a well-structured, clear system for vetting and approving projects or allocating money. Ideas were pitched but often not accepted.
A Spotify rep declined to comment on specific spending numbers for the equity fund, but said it backed a number of initiatives in its first year, including “Glow,” which highlights music from LGBTQ artists, and “Nailing It,” a podcast hosted by three Black women. It also recently announced an expanded partnership with Spelman College, a historically Black women’s school in Atlanta.
“The Spotify Creator Equity Fund is dedicated to a variety of initiatives that help elevate and support an inclusive and diverse portfolio of artists and creators on the platform,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed comment. “We are able to empower and uplift underrepresented voices around the world.”
Contacted by Variety, a Spotify rep declined further comment but did not dispute the information in the report.
The $100 million number was seen as symbolic, as Rogan’s deal with Spotify — the world’s largest paid music-subscription service — was believed to be that for around that amount, but was later reported to be well over $200 million. The move was also seen by some as a cynical and vaguely defined attempt to defuse the situation, especially after the company spent $300 million on a sponsorship deal for Barcelona FC football club just weeks later.
At the time of the announcement, in a February 2022 letter to staff, CEO Daniel Ek, under fire from critics inside and outside the company over its partnership with Rogan, said he was “deeply sorry” for how the controversy over the podcast host had affected them. But after the company’s removal of 70 past episodes “The Joe Rogan Experience” amid Rogan’s use of the N-word and racially charged language numerous times on his show, Ek signaled that Spotify did not plan to terminate its deal to distribute the podcast, which has continued.
“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer… canceling voices is a slippery slope,” he wrote in the memo Sunday, which was obtained by Variety. “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.”
Rogan has been a controversial figure ever since Spotify inked its exclusive deal with him in 2020, given his friendliness with several right-wing personalities he has hosted on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
