Celebs: Spotify shares rebound after Joe Rogan apology, Citigroup upgrade – Gulf Digital News

Celebs: Spotify shares rebound after Joe Rogan apology, Citigroup upgrade – Gulf Digital News

US podcaster Joe Rogan apologised and pledged more balance on his show amid a backlash against Covid-19 misinformation on the streaming service that wiped more than $2 billion off its market value last week.

On Monday, investors appeared to shrug off the controversy that hurt shares last week, as Spotify's stock price jumped 12 per cent after brokerage Citigroup raised the stock rating to 'buy' from 'neutral' saying the Swedish company would be able to improve its advertising business.

Spotify said it would add a content advisory to any episode with discussion of Covid to try to quell the controversy, a first step into the field of content moderation that other tech platforms have found challenging and costly.

Rogan's show, The Joe Rogan Experience, has been the most listened-to podcast on Spotify and is central to its plan to expand beyond music and take on rivals such as Apple and Amazon.com for a share of the podcasting market.

In a 10-minute Instagram video post on Sunday evening, Rogan apologised to Spotify for the backlash but defended inviting contentious guests.

"I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better