
“It sounds like Spotify’s options are very limited as to what they can do,” he said.ĭr. “So, it comes down to whether or not there is any provisions within the agreement that would allow Spotify to terminate the license agreement with ‘The Joe Rogan Experience.’ Some contracts have moral clauses or certain actions or behaviors that are defined that would allow one party to terminate the agreement.”īerman added that any termination of the contract would come at a price for Spotify, either by paying off Rogan under any severance terms in the agreement or offering to buy out the contract. Berman, partner and director of the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Department in the New York law firm Abrams Fensterman LLP. “My understanding is that Spotify has an exclusive license on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, which is produced by Joe Rogan and his people,” said Seth L. For starters, there is the question of whether Spotify can swiftly drop him. Whither Rogan? Benzinga surveyed media and entertainment industry thought leaders to determine what it would take for Spotify to see Rogan as a liability rather than an asset. Whether or not it was an intentional pledge sum, $100 million is also the figure that Rogan achieved in his four-year 2020 contract with Spotify to make his show exclusive to the platform. While Spotify has removed multiple older episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” with problematic content - the exact number is unclear, with sources putting it between 70 and 113 - Ek added he was committed to an “incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups” in an effort to widen Spotify’s programming.

In a memo to the Spotify staff, Ek said Rogan’s comments “do not represent the values of this company” - yet he insisted “canceling voices is a slippery slope” and he had no plans for “silencing” Rogan.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has both distanced himself from Rogan’s episodes while standing by his star podcaster. The controversy surrounding the content on the Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” is showing no signs of abating, with greater pressure being placed on the company to address high-profile complaints of medical misinformation and racially insensitive commentary on past episodes.
