(Bloomberg) — Spotify Technology SA climbed after the streaming service said it would would add a content advisory to podcasts that address Covid-19, seeking to quash an uproar over Joe Rogan’s program.
Facing mounting pressure from users and musicians over the accuracy of virus information being spread by the platform’s most popular podcaster, Spotify published its existing rules governing content. Rogan, meanwhile, pledged that he would present more balanced, better-researched programming on the coronavirus.
The shares rose 5.8% at 9:41 a.m. Monday in New York. That chipped away at the 12% decline that Spotify registered last week, wiping out almost $4 billion from the company’s market value.
Rock icon Neil Young had pulled his music from the service to protest Rogan, who has hosted several outspoken skeptics of Covid-19 vaccines. Joni Mitchell followed Young’s lead as did other musicians.
Read More: Joe Rogan brings the misinformation debate to podcasting
Spotify created rules governing acceptable content on its service years ago and built a hub with coronavirus information early in the pandemic, but hadn’t made them public until Sunday.
Rogan thanked his listeners and Spotify and apologized for the controversy.
“If I’ve p—-ed you off, I’m sorry,” he said in an Instagram video over the weekend. He said he would “try harder to get people with differing opinions on right afterward” and “do my best to make sure I have researched these topics.”
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