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Streaming giant Spotify has been embroiled in a scandal after it was accused of allowing misinformation to spread on its platform. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle currently have a deal to create content for Spotify, and according to a royal expert, the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes could benefit from the controversy.

Meghan Markle with a bun and wearing a dark outfit, Prince Harry wearing a suit
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

What has been happening with Spotify?

In late January, musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell announced they would like to remove their music from Spotify.

In an open letter Young published, he explained that he does not want to be on the platform that allows podcast hosts to spread “fake information about vaccines.” Young specifically talks about Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” he wrote. “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.” 

Harry and Meghan also spoke out about this. A spokesperson for the couple shared that they expressed concerns to Spotify back in April 2021. However, the Sussexes have not cut ties with Spotify.

The Sussexes could benefit from the scandal, expert speculates

It’s still too soon to tell how Spotify’s misinformation controversy will affect the Sussexes. Nonetheless, royal journalist Charlotte Griffiths believe Harry and Meghan could “hide behind” the scandal.

“It’s been a good year or so since they actually released a podcast,” she said on Mail Plus’ Palace Confidential, referencing the couple’s holiday episode that was released in December 2020.

Griffiths added, “There have been delays behind the scenes. I have heard there have been problems with the podcast … They can slightly hide behind this and use it maybe as an excuse for another delay.”

While some people think the Sussexes could give back the money Spotify invested in their content and part ways with the streaming giant, Griffiths does not believe this will happen.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly been making Spotify look bad

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According to PR expert Mark Borkowski, Harry and Meghan gave Spotify some good publicity when the couple first signed with the company in 2020. However, after a year with no content, the Sussexes could reportedly be making Spotify look bad.

“It was a great publicity coup for them to create their narrative but also for Spotify,” Borkowski said on TalkRADIO (per Express). He added, “All these comparisons with this was going to be the new Obamas, this was Michelle and Barack. Lots of comparisons on the content they were going to produce.”

Borkowski added, “This is hard work and you absolutely need a team of people to help you develop a quality product, particularly quality content and obviously they’ve never struck me as team players.”

Borkowski believes that Spotify might have recently seen this as a “PR nightmare.” He said, “Because it reflects badly for Spotify as well. That these great golden gooses have laid nothing but more smelly old eggs, well they haven’t even laid an egg.”

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