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Remember when Spotify created a $100 million diversity fund to help pay Joe Rogan? The money barely touched, according to a new Bloomberg report.
Earlier last year, Spotify was in trouble over a deal with Rogan. As Bloomberg points out, a video of Logan repeatedly using the word “N” began to circulate. Last January, 270 doctors and scientists sent an open letter to his Spotify asking for a misinformation policy, thanks to Logan’s comments about the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them called him a “threat to public health.”
Bloomberg News reports that less than 10% of the funds in the diversity fund are being used after a year of existence. Sources told Bloomberg that the hiring start was slow and the initiative has “suffered a shift in priorities” since then. A clear structure for scrutinizing and approving proposed projects is still lacking, he said. The report cites an internal memo indicating that priorities for this year remain undecided and a budget for 2023 has yet to be finalized.
In an emailed comment to Bloomberg, a Spotify representative declined to mention specific spending figures.They said the fund will grow (Spotify’s global equity program for LGBTQ musicians) and nail it (Spotify podcast with hosts Priscilla Anyab, Unmi Bello, and Adesayo Tarabi, all black women). The representative also noted that Spotify this week announced further collaboration with Spelman College, a private, historically black women’s college. Some of the projects listed in are backed by this effort and predate the fund itself.
A representative wrote to Bloomberg News: ”
Neil Young, whose music was removed from the service last year in an “Is it him or me”-style confrontation with Spotify, speculates that he still feels pretty good about his decision.
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