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After years of criticism over how artists get paid through streaming, many people are still wondering Spotify does not fairly pay artists featured on its platform. CEO and founder Daniel Ek has been trying to solve that.
“We don’t pay artists directly,” Ek told CBS News’ Gayle King.
“[Artists] We have deals with record companies, publishers, etc.,” he said.
In 2021, Spotify created a website called “Loud & Clear” to clarify who receives payments. But Ek said he wanted to handle the issue differently.
“This is a complicated topic,” he said. “But I wish we had dealt with it up front. And once that narrative is established, it’s very difficult to change that narrative.”
“I think that’s the lesson learned from my side,” he added.
When Ek started Spotify in 2006, his dream was to combine his favorite interests – technology, computers and music – into one platform. According to Spotify, as of 2022 he will have earned over $40 billion, making him the biggest revenue generator in the music industry. The platform currently has 500 million users.
Ek added that it was an “emotional roller coaster” and that it “never stops.”
“It was the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done in my life outside of kids,” he said, but noted that it was “not for the faint of heart.”
Alongside the topic of artist payments, Spotify has been criticized for issues related to content moderation. In 2020, the company announced an exclusive licensing deal with the world’s #1 podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. This has been a point of contention for the company. Last year, 270 doctors wrote to Spotify about Logan’s outbreak. misinformation About COVID-19.
Spotify has since added links to resources about COVID-19 to Logan episodes and removed dozens of episodes that didn’t meet community guidelines.
But just last month, Logan made a comment that perpetuated anti-Semitic stereotypes.
The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League called Logan, say it“At a time when anti-Semitic violence is on the rise and more Americans believe in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, [Joe Rogan] Using his huge platform to spout anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money. ”
Ek said he felt the comments were “extremely offensive” but defended the company’s practices.
“We have these guidelines that if people are harming others, we take action,” Ek said. “But many diverse voices express themselves through art.” I think it’s important that it’s a place where we can communicate.”
“There are many things that Joe Rogan and many other voices are saying on our platform that we disagree with as well.But I will get back to that.Is this against our terms of service? If so, we’ll remove it, and we’ve removed thousands of podcasts for violating our platform’s rules for anti-Semitic comments.”
“And in a broader context, it’s probably hundreds of thousands of episodes that violate other terms and services as well. So we take that very seriously,” he said. rice field.
Ek said he wasn’t going to decide what to remove and what to keep, and said Spotify had experts and a safety advisory board “taking those actions.”
“I think it’s really important that this isn’t a decision that’s just made by me,” he said. “It’s also created by a diverse group of people with different perspectives. The same rules apply to Joe Rogan as to Caster.”
Amid reports that Logan’s contract expires at the end of the year, Ek declined to say whether it would be renewed.
“All I can say is that the deal is still longer than that, so when I get to that, I’m going to cross that bridge,” he said.
Right now, Spotify is in the midst of a big change. At the Stream On event in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Ek revealed major changes to his experience for users of the platform. This includes a “completely redesigned from the ground up” and “all-new” home his feed.
Ek said Spotify took inspiration from the evolution of social media and added a “unique Spotify twist.”
“We don’t want people to think we’re making this like TikTok,” he said. “We’re trying to be a more interactive Spotify.”
Ek said the big focus for him was simple: “You have to live in the future.”
“And for me the future will always be young people. What are they doing in different cultures?” he said. “Every few years in this industry someone comes out with something from a design standpoint. [a] A much better way for people to interact with it. ”
Ek’s Industry Change Extends Beyond Design As Businesses Embrace A major development in artificial intelligence.
Ek says AI technology can scare him, but it doesn’t scare him either.
“On a broader scale, it’s kind of crazy to imagine what the world will look like in five or ten years if we move to what we call AGI (artificial general intelligence).
“That basically means we have an AI that might be smarter than any human being alive, right?” he said. “So it’s kind of daunting to think about what impact we can have on humanity out there. And we have to be very careful about that.” I think there is.”
“But at the same time, it is also clear that AI can be very helpful by making both experiences better and easier for all of us to handle,” he said. in every field. ”
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