Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have expressed their “concerns” over “misinformation” on Spotify.
The platform has come under fire over its affiliation with Joe Rogan’s podcast.
In recent months, Rogan has been accused of spreading misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.
In a statement Sunday, an Archewell spokesperson said: “Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform.”
“We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis.”
“We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does,” the spokesperson added.
It comes after Neil Young and Joni Mitchell demanded that their catalogue of songs be removed from Spotify over its affiliation with Joe Rogan’s podcast.
In a statement posted to his website earlier this week, Neil called Spotify “the home of life threatening Covid misinformation.”
In response to his statement, Spotify said: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators.”
“We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” they added.
Joni Mitchell has since joined Neil’s boycott of Spotify, and has asked the platform to remove her entire back catalogue.
In a statement shared on her website earlier this week, she wrote: “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
The singer also linked to an open letter signed by medical and scientific experts, calling on Spotify to “immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.”
The letter explicitly names Joe Rogan’s podcast, and calls out a particular episode featuring guest doctor Robert Malone “for promoting baseless conspiracy theories”. The letter also said the podcast had a “concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Joe Rogan Experience is currently the top-rated podcast on Spotify.
The streaming service acquired the podcast in 2020 in a deal worth a reported $100m.
Meghan and Harry signed a multi-year podcast deal with Spotify at the end of 2020.
The exclusive partnership was made through the couple’s production company Archewell Audio.
