Revealed! Spotify Pays Joe Rogan IDR 2.8 Trillion While The “Victim” Only Paid Half

Joe Rogan was paid $200 million by Spotify. (photo: twitter @joerogan)

JAKARTA - Spotify is reportedly paying Joe Rogan at least $200 million to commit to podcasting on the platform exclusively over the next three and a half years, according to a New York Times report.

That figure, while huge, is double the fee previously reported by The Wall Street Journal as Rogan's $100 million deal (IDR 1.4 trillion) and continues to be widely used in the media without correction from the Spotify team.

The news comes after turbulent months for the audio company, in which musicians, podcasters, employees, and the medical community have highlighted Spotify's partnership with the controversial podcaster.

In January, a group of members of the medical community wrote to Spotify asking it to remove an episode of Rogan that they said was selling misinformation about COVID-19. Musician Neil Young who read the letter then pulled his catalog from the platform in response.

"I'm doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines - potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation spread by them," he wrote, as quoted by The Verge. “Please act immediately today and notify me of the timetable.”

Since then, Spotify's CEO, Daniel Ek, has issued numerous statements about his reluctance to moderate Rogan's shows outside the rules of his platform, which were only published after Young and others withdrew their music.

However, Rogan's show later became controversial for reasons other than COVID-19. In a separate viral video, Rogan is documented using the n-word several times. After the video appeared, 70 episodes were mysteriously deleted for no reason given.

Rogan later apologized for using slurs and also making racist jokes, but Spotify has never publicly commented. However, in the leaked memo, Ek confirmed that the company did speak with Rogan and his team. Finally, Rogan decided to delete the episode.

Ek also said the company would give $100 million to creators from historically marginalized groups. As Verge's contributing editor Casey Newton points out on Twitter, that amount appears to be about the same as what Spotify paid Rogan, but now, it appears to be only half that.

This could have sparked some more noise on Spotify, as Rogan as the antagonist is valued at twice as much as his victims.