Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty
Prince HarryandMeghan Markleare expressing their concerns over misinformation tied to theCOVID-19 pandemicand its place onSpotify.
Shortly afterNeil Youngpulled his music from the streaming service due to inaccuracies about COVID-19, Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, are now calling on Spotify to address the “serious harms” ofmisinformation featured on the platform.
The couple — who has anexclusive multiyear podcast dealwith Spotify — first contacted the company to express “concerns” about “the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform” in April 2021, a spokesperson for their foundation Archewell said Sunday.
“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,” the statement added. “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 statement concluded.
John Keeble/Getty
Back in December 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced a “multi-year partnership” between Spotify and their production company Archewell Audio.
With the partnership, the pair will host and produce original podcasts “all with the goal to build community through shared experience, narratives and values,” according to a press release.
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“What we love about podcasting is that it reminds all of us to take a moment and to really listen, to connect to one another without distraction,” Harry and Meghan said in a joint statement at the time.
“With the challenges of 2020, there has never been a more important time to do so, because when we hear each other, and hear each other’s stories, we are reminded of how interconnected we all are,” they added.
Prince Harryand Meghan’s call to action comes about after Young, 76, andJoni Mitchell, 78, each removed their music catalogs from Spotify. Their decisions to do so came about tied to misinformation about COVID-19 that was featured onJoe Rogan’s podcast,The Joe Rogan Experience.
Young also shared aletter on his websitecalling out Rogan’s podcast. He wrote, in part, “Most of the listeners hearing the unfactual, misleading and false COVID information on Spotify are 24 years old, impressionable and easy to swing to the wrong side of the truth.” He added: “These young people believe Spotify would never present grossly unfactual information. They unfortunately are wrong. I knew I had to try to point that out.”
Newsweekreported that theJoe Rogan Experiencesees an “estimated 11 million people” tune in for each episode, though Spotify has not officially revealed exactly how many users subscribe to the podcast overall. Spotify reportedly paid about $100 million to acquire theJoe Rogan Experience, according to theLos Angeles Times.
A representative for Spotify did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
