In today’s world, producing music and podcasts has gained unprecedented popularity. Many individuals are making a living and, in some cases, a fortune out of their passion for producing engaging content. One notable example is Joe Rogan, who shot to fame and fortune with his highly successful podcast, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’. The podcast’s incredible popularity led to Spotify recognizing Rogan’s value, striking an unprecedented $200 million deal with him for exclusive rights to his show.

However, this was not the only major plan Spotify had in place. Owning to the impact caused by the controversy over Rogan’s Covid-19 related comments, the company pledged an initiative called the ‘Creator Equity Fund.’ The program aimed to support underrepresented artists for their music and other projects on the platform, with a whopping $100 million allocated for this purpose.

Despite this, Spotify has only spent a very minuscule chunk of the fund’s total amounts since its initiation. And the company’s ‘shifting priorities’ is said to be the cause of this.

Spotify couldn’t execute the post-Joe Rogan controversy promise

Back in February 2022, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek issued a statement addressing the Joe Rogan-Covid-19 controversy. Ek pledged an ‘incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups’. The initiative called the ‘Creator Equity Fund’, was designed to boost all types of creators, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. However, nearly 14 months later, the fund has had a hard time getting off the ground.

‘Bloomberg’ reported that Spotify has spent less than 10% of its funding on this work and that the initiative is behind schedule in hiring a designated staff to oversee the project. Moreover, the amount was supposed to be used over three years. But the streaming service failed to put up a well-structured plan to execute it in accordance.

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“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,” a Spotify spokesperson wrote in a statement to PodPod. “By investing in programs like GLOW, Frequency, NextGen and AMPLIFIKA, we are able to empower and uplift underrepresented voices around the world.”

The ‘Creator Equity Fund’ was a step in the right direction by Spotify. But despite having the best of intentions, the company has failed to follow through on its promise.

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