Spotify Shares Rebound After CEO Blogs on Vaccines

Spotify shares closed up 13% Monday at $196.26 after CEO Daniel Ek addressed in a blog post the controversy surrounding podcast host Joe Rogan’s misinformation about COVID-19, which led musician Neil Young to pull his content (see 2201280069). The stock hit a 52-week low last week amid the hubbub. Ek didn’t mention Rogan or Young Sunday, taking a centrist approach: “We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users.” The executive said Spotify has had rules “for many years” about what's acceptable and not on its platform but that it hasn’t been transparent about the policies. It published those rules Sunday. Acknowledging recent “feedback,” Ek said “it’s become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time.” Experts urged Spotify to act against misinformation Rogan promoted. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Young for “standing up against misinformation and inaccuracies around #COVID19 vaccination.”