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A small number of musicians, including Neil Young, have decided to take their music off Spotify in a mild protest against the news that the streaming giant has decided to include podcaster Joe Rogan in its line-up.
According to UPI News, Rogan’s inclusion on Spotify has upset some who are unhappy that his podcast sometimes hosts commentators who disagree with the divisive methods of some governments during the pandemic, including the vaccine mandate.
Young is joined by rock guitarist Nils Lofgren and “Both Sides Now” singer Joni Mitchell in his protest against Rogan. In a dramatic stand-off with Spotify, Young demanded that Spotify remove either Rogan’s podcast or his music catalogue.
Spotify then released a statement, explaining why they chose to dump Young, saying that they were very careful in the content they broadcast as they worked hard to balance “both safety for listeners and freedom for creators”.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Young spoke about how the removal of his music from Spotify would impact his record company financially, saying that it would be “a huge loss for (his) record company to absorb.” Young himself is estimated to be worth over $100 million.
Social media users have mostly been backing Spotify in what one described as “a pathetic attempt by some has-beens to deny Rogan the right to free speech.” It is expected that “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast will get huge numbers of new listeners as a result of the publicity from the actions of Young and others.
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