I wanted to join SubStack full of life and enthusiasm, but instead I join from a place of bitter despair.
I’ve been writing my introduction essay for a week now and it was warm and full of hope, but I started writing this piece staring into space, at my kitchen counter, in the wake of finding out on Thursday last week that Spotify has replaced mine and my great friend and co – pilot, Sydney Lima’s hugely successful podcast – Sex Lies and DM Slides with the exact same podcast and name. Just with two other presenters. That podcast was the brainchild of Sydney, documentary -maker Heydon Prowse and myself, created – ironically enough, exactly where I am now sitting. The need to write this is impulsive and passionate, so here I am.
The show was built around conversations that Sydney and I had about this new social media space, (in our DMs), where people were able to show up and flippantly abuse you. Sometimes they asked you for paid escort or sugar baby work. Other times it was obscene dick, wanking or bumming pictures that we got sent. Then there were the times where you would receive vitriolic abuse where you would be called fat or ugly – all the way through to bloody terrifying death threats.
This whole project really happened because Sydney activated the idea and got BAFTA award-winning Heydon involved to produce and help write the show. Heydon’s production company packaged the show, Syd and Heydon then went forth and got a commission with Spotify and started writing and producing it. I was beside myself when Sydney then asked me to join the group officially. I came in and helped with the casting and my team were heavily involved with the marketing and PR and soon, (while mostly Heydon’s domain), we were all involved in writing some of the shows.
We all came up with Sex, Lies and DM slides as a title – based on the old Steven Soderbergh film “Sex Lies and Videotapes”. I even got permission from musician Baxter Dury, (the son of musician and poet Ian Dury) to rewrite and record me and Sydney singing the classic punk song “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” for the theme tune. It was truly an original idea- created by Sydney, Heydon and myself.
From the minute we went live back in 2020, we knew we had a hit on our hands. We opened up our inboxes to the public to showcase the abuse and extremely inappropriate messages we got. We talked about our sex lives and our traumas - all very personal and private things in the hope it would help others as well as those who were victims of abuse. We persuaded well-known names and faces, who had interesting or distressing stories they wanted to share or expose, to come on the show. Much of it was funny. We learn to laugh at the grimness of it all. Many of the guests were our good friends (Lily Allen, Daisy Lowe, Lou Teasdale, Gok Wan), but the smart side of the show managed to pull in documentary maker legends like Jon Ronson and Ruby Wax, or international activists Rose McGowen and Monroe Bergdorf. Within weeks we were the number 1 top trending podcast in the world and we shot up the world charts.
What most people don’t know is that we made the pilot with Caroline Flack – one of my closest friends. It was a hugely frank and extremely shocking conversation with her and our other friend, writer Raven Smith, and without doubt was one of the reasons we got the official commission with Spotify.
After Caroline’s death however, we decided never to air that episode. I hold such a huge place in my heart for this part of how we got there. Spotify know this – but will they care? I think Spotify care about what suits them… They didn’t when I pleaded with them to remove parts of other shows that had over exposed two of my friends who were contributors, who had asked for us to take bits out in their episodes. One of my friends was getting seriously bullied from online trolls and was feeling suicidal. I begged them to remove this part of the podcast and they wouldn’t. The irony of this is that just a few hours ago – today, we had our first conversation with Spotify, who now have asked us to be considerate of the new presenters who are getting some lash back for not standing in support for us. Sydney and I know it’s not the girls’ fault. We have been very clear about this.
I also worry about them because at only 22 they are so young. Sydney and I are seriously streetwise. A thick skin was required by all, as the show drew in more madness than ever once on air… Being asked for sex work, more sexualisation and perverted messages, angry incels, and no one wants to see the videos we were sent of a man with an anal snake and unnecessary amounts of creamy lube up his bum! The girls have been chosen because they have a huge social presence with almost 3 million followers between them. Spotify want the hits – they don’t want something highbrow and clever with integrity.
The response from the public has been overwhelming. I’m still sitting here days on, distracted by my phone buzzing with kind messages of support. Thousands upon thousands of you have shown up for us and it’s clear that the fans of the show are genuinely hurting with us. The big question is what is going to happen legally – that we must see. But I don’t hold out much hope. Because the truth is, this is how big businesses works. Yes, it was our idea, our format and our friends who put their private lives out there, but this is a intellectual property rights issue and from my experience – the law never serves the creative. This ain’t my first exploitation rodeo, the contract is murky, but I feel confident in our case, because above all, none of use believed we gave away the rights of the concept. I suppose we never imagined that this would happen and the truth is, we were stupid to be naïve. It’s not just a legal issue – it is now a moral one.
We were never told what was about to happen. We weren’t even warned. To add insult to injury, our show has now been removed from the platform. A show that was still getting thousands of new monthly listeners and still occasionally popped into the top 100 shows in the world has now vanished from existence. Then on top of it all Spotify filed the copyright of the name back in May this year.
We will have to see how this pans out. Will I get in trouble for speaking out loud about this? Probably. But there comes a point of bursting when it comes to exploitation and I have cracked. Sydney, Heydon and I are hurting and angry, because our baby is being abused.
With the extremity of the situation we have unexpectedly now found ourselves in, we have great difficulty in accepting Spotify’s stance.
There should be no dispute that we are the creators of the podcast “Sex, Lies and DM slides”. Three people came together and built the bones of this podcast. It was then sold and then packaged as a commission to Spotify. We made 28 episodes that were slowly, carefully and personally executed between the three of us. The rights issue here is very complicated, and there are obviously lots of conversations going on about this, but for one thing I am certain. Spotify have made a statement that they take Intellectual property “very seriously”, but in our case, it has been taken extremely frivolously.
Awful! Another reason to sack off Spotify. I’m so sorry this happened.
When I heard that musical artists can have 20 million plays of a song and only get paid $300, I knew there was a new Devil in town. Absolutely repulsive, but there are other platforms to use. Retitle and go somewhere else, and most of all? GET A LAWYER TO OVERSEE THAT NEXT CONTRACT! Protect your own IP. Spotify is desperate for creatives because they are just accountants.