Spotify launched its quarterly earnings today throughout a very fraught time for the corporate. Its star podcaster, Joe Rogan, spurred a number of musicians to pull their discographies from the platform over his present’s spreading of misinformation; Spotify-employed podcasters themselves spoke out, and even the White Home responded.
CEO Daniel Ek fielded questions concerning the backlash to having Rogan on the platform and stood by the corporate’s choice to host, distribute, and monetize the present. He as a substitute tried to reframe the dialogue as one among free speech and making Spotify a platform that may assist all audio creators make a residing, no matter their opinions.
“We’re making an attempt to steadiness artistic expression with the security of our customers, and naturally, it is a very sophisticated subject,” he stated. He additionally added that it was too early to know whether or not Rogan-spurred cancellations would symbolize a considerable downside.
He then pointed to the corporate’s promise to roll out a COVID-19 disclaimer on any podcast episode that discusses the virus, in addition to its public rollout of its content material moderation insurance policies as issues he feels “actually good about.”
“I do consider they’re proper for our platform,” he says, including that though Rogan is the highest podcaster in 90 markets on its platform, the corporate has “one thing for everybody,” together with all advertisers, which is turning into a much bigger a part of the corporate’s backside line.
Month-to-month energetic customers grew by 18 p.c 12 months over 12 months to 406 million, whereas paying subscribers reached 180 million. Promoting represented 15 p.c of Spotify’s income final quarter, which Ek says is encouraging the workforce to experiment with content material windowing, reasonably than complete exclusives, in an effort to achieve a broader viewers.
Spotify hopes to achieve 50 million creators, he says, who will generate income by the platform. It’ll additionally proceed to put money into instruments, assets, and companies to cater to them.
“We need to be the very best place for audio creators,” he stated. “We’ve solely scratched the floor of the artistic potential in audio.”