Exclusive data on Joe Rogan and Spotify
Hello from SurveyMonkey!
Welcome to the latest installment of our research newsletter. This week, we’re sharing exclusive new data on the ongoing controversy surrounding Joe Rogan, Spotify, and the role big tech platforms and big personalities play in free speech. Read on to learn more:
The free speech debate hits Spotify
Spotify, the streaming audio platform, made news last week after defending its star podcaster, Joe Rogan, whose podcast has been criticized for spreading misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. New polling from SurveyMonkey shows that most people do not want Rogan to be de-platformed by Spotify, but that they also support individual artists’ decisions to leave a media platform whose actions don’t align with their own political views.
Recently, artists such as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young have taken their music off of Spotify as a protest against Rogan’s content, which garnered media attention and spurred calls for consumer boycotts. We surveyed nearly 3,000 people across the U.S. over the past few days to learn how much people are paying attention to this media flare-up and to determine what the impact might be for Spotify.
Just more than half (53%) were very or somewhat familiar with the controversy; 13% were not too familiar, 31% had heard nothing at all. Younger adults under age 35 were most likely to say they weren’t at all familiar with the news (39%), and women were more likely than men to say they weren’t familiar with it (36% vs. 26%).
Among all who were aware of the controversy, 44% think Spotify should keep The Joe Rogan Experience on their platform with no changes, 31% think they should keep the podcast but fact-check the content, and 24% say they should remove the podcast from the platform entirely.
Republicans and Democrats are equally aware of the controversy, but have very different views of how to handle it. Eight in 10 Republicans (80%) support keeping Rogan’s podcast on Spotify with no modifications, while 49% of Democrats only want to keep it on the platform with fact-checking added, and 41% want to remove it entirely.
Those partisan divisions reflect the bigger issue at play here: 70% of Democrats say it is appropriate for Spotify to moderate content on its platform, while 65% of Republicans say it would be inappropriate for Spotify to take such an action.
Thinking about the big picture, a majority of the public supports artists and creators removing their content from platforms due to opposing personal and political beliefs.
Other SurveyMonkey data in the news:
Super Bowl Sunday is *this weekend* and our new poll with the Los Angeles Times has all the data you’ll need to be prepared for the big game.
The Cincinnati Bengals are the underdog but also the fan favorites against the Los Angeles Rams. Read the story.
The same poll finds that large numbers of Republicans have soured on the NFL and disapprove of the league's efforts to improve treatment of Black players. Read more.
52% of Californians said they plan to watch the Rams-Bengals showdown alone or with fewer people because of COVID-19 concerns, compared with 41% of people nationwide. Read more.
LA residents are enthusiastic for Sunday's Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics but have doubts about their economic benefits. Read more. Read the story.
Are you hosting a party for the game? Making bets with friends? Looking to share predictions to connect with family across the country? SurveyMonkey has all the resources you’ll need to do all the above. Check out our “big game” hub 🎉
That’s it from us this week! Thanks for reading. I’ll be cheering for the local team; Go Rams!
- Laura Wronski