Neil Young and Joni Mitchell Put Protest Over Profit

Spotify-exclusive podcast The Joe Rogan Experience this week, both on-stage and during an episode of the podcast itself.Rogan’s podcast recently prompted protest from the likes of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, with the musicians pulling their catalogues from the streaming platform.Young sparked the exodus late last month, when he requested his music be taken off Spotify, citing the platform “spreading false information about vaccines” and specifically targeting Rogan.It came after hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on Rogan’s podcast – calling the host’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.In response, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that, while the platform wouldn’t be severing ties with the controversial figure, they would be adding content advisories to podcast episodes which discussed COVID-19, directing users to their dedicated information hub.Rogan himself addressed the boycott on Instagram, telling fans: “I don’t always get it right. I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.”Shortly after, Rogan found himself embroiled in controversy again when songwriter India.Arie shared a video that compiled instances the podcast host had used the N-word on his podcast.

Chris Willman Music WriterHow will Neil Young fare as a streaming presence now that he’s taken his music off Spotify, the service that accounted for close to half of his streaming revenue prior to his initiating a break amid the ongoing Joe Rogan?The long-term effect on consumption for Young’s songs remains to be seen or felt, and the veteran rocker may yet see his numbers sink without consumers being able to access his material via music’s most popular digital destination. But in the two weeks since he made his stand, two trends became evident: first, a big surge in streaming attention as fans followed him to other services… followed by a return to the kind of numbers he had in normal times, when he was still on Spotify — but, of course, without Spotify.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorEmbattled podcaster Joe Rogan said he isn’t planning to exit his Spotify deal to bring his popular — and controversial — show to Rumble, a video platform startup catering to right-wing personalities.Rogan, in a stand-up performance Tuesday in Austin, Texas, told the crowd he would not be moving “The Joe Rogan Experience” to Rumble, which earlier this week publicly offered him a $100 million deal. Rogan’s exclusive multiyear Spotify deal is reportedly worth more than $100 million.“No, Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably,” Rogan said in answer to an audience member’s question about whether he was taking Rumble up on its offer, as reported by THR.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorJoe Rogan weighed in again on the controversy over his repeated use of the N-word on his podcast — and Spotify’s removal of 70 past episodes because of “racially insensitive language” — and played the victim card.Last Friday, Spotify pulled 70 past episodes “The Joe Rogan Experience” from its platform, which the streamer said it did at the request of Rogan and his team. That came after singer India Arie last week said she was pulling her music and podcasts off Spotify, citing Rogan’s “language around race”; she reposted a video on Instagram compiling 24 times Rogan used the N-word on his podcast, and the clip soon went viral.Rogan addressed the situation in Tuesday’s episode of his podcast.

Neil Young has taken another swipe at Spotify after pulling his music from the platform to take a stand against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation being spread by podcaster Joe Rogan.

Spotify over their alleged support of vaccine misinformation, Neil Young has encouraged workers at Spotify – as well as fellow musicians – to step away from the streaming giant.“In our communication age, misinformation is the problem,” he wrote in a statement to his website yesterday (February 7). “Ditch the misinformers. Find a good clean place to support with your monthly checks.

In his latest salvo against Spotify, rocker Neil Young is urging musicians, creators and even employees to abandon the streaming service, telling Spotify workers to “get out of that place before it eats up your soul.”

Zack Sharf Neil Young has urged Spotify employees to quit the company in the wake of the fallout involving Joe Rogan, which has spiraled from the podcaster’s use of his platform to air Covid-19 misinformation to his earlier, frequent use of a racial slur on his show. Young is now targeting Spotify CEO Daniel Ek as the company’s chief problem.“To the musicians and creators in this world, I say this: You must be able to find a better place than Spotify to be the home of your art,” Young wrote in a post on his Neil Young Archives site.

Taking a stand. Amid the controversy surrounding Spotify’s support of comedian Joe Rogan and his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” many stars have decided to pull their content from the streaming service in protest.

One of Joe Rogan’s biggest critics, India Arie, said that she doesn’t believe in cancel culture and isn't asking for the podcaster to be censored, despite taking her music off of Spotify’s platform. Rogan is one of the streaming service's biggest stars, with a contract that could earn him more than $100 million. However, Arie joined artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in asking that their music be removed from the platform due to its inclusion of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify CEO Daniel Ek, under fire from critics inside and outside the company over its partnership with Joe Rogan, said in a memo to employees that was “deeply sorry” for how the controversy over the podcast host has affected them.But in the wake of the company removing 70 past episodes of his podcast and Rogan’s use of the N-word on his show, Ek signaled that Spotify does not plan to end its deal to distribute “The Joe Rogan Experience.”“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer… canceling voices is a slippery slope,” he wrote in the memo Sunday, which was obtained by Variety.Ek said he is “committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.” “If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds,” the CEO wrote.Rogan has been a controversial figure ever since Spotify inked its exclusive deal with him in 2020, his hosting of right-wing personalities on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” The latest controversy over coronavirus misinformation on Rogan’s podcast has gone beyond the low-boil level that has previously accompanied outrage over comments on his podcast. That was led by Neil Young, who demanded Spotify pull his songs or drop Rogan, and has been followed by a few other artists and creators.According to Ek, Spotify has had conversations “with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language.

Spotify users have cancelled their subscriptions since the controversy around Joe Rogan’s podcast broke out.In January, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID-19 misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience. The 270-plus members of the science and medical community signed an open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.Following the publishing of that letter, Neil Young demanded his music be “immediately” removed from the platform, with many high-profile artists like Joni Mitchell, David Crosby and Graham Nash following suit.Now, as Variety reports, a consumer poll from Forrester Research has found that 19 per cent of the streaming service’s customers have since cancelled their subscriptions, or plan to in the near future.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorHow big of a liability vs. an asset will Joe Rogan prove to be for Spotify? A new survey sheds some light on which way the wind might blow given the spate of #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify hashtags that blew up on social media in recent days — although similar past customer backlashes have resulted in minimal damage.About 19% of Spotify users said they have already canceled their service — or plan to — over the Rogan uproar, according to a Feb.

Spotify over comments made on his podcast.Neil Young was the first to pull his music due to Rogan spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19, with Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash following in solidarity.Spotify CEO Daniel Ek responded to the row in an official statement, saying that Spotify would be adding COVID-19 content advisories to all relevant podcast episodes and Rogan himself has publicly addressed the backlash in a post discussing “some of the controversy that’s been going on over the past few days”.Now, Stewart has waded into the row on his own podcast The Problem With Jon Stewart saying artists’ actions towards Rogan were “a mistake”.“There’s no question that there is egregious misinformation that’s purposeful and hateful, and that being moderated is a credit to the platforms that run them,” Stewart said. “But this overreaction to Rogan, I think, is a mistake.”He pointed to an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience in which Rogan argued with Australian media personality Josh Szeps about whether COVID-19 itself or its vaccine was more likely to make patients vulnerable to myocarditis.When the two disagreed, Rogan offered to look it up, and when he was proven wrong he accepted it.As a result, Stewart believed that Rogan was open to other opinions and urged artists not to not “leave, abandon or censor” but instead “engage”.Meanwhile, India.Arie has become one of the latest artists to leave Spotify over Rogan’s “language around race”.

India.Arie has shared clips of Joe Rogan referring to Black neighbourhoods as “Planet of the Apes” and using the N-word in several episodes.This follows the singer’s recent announcement about leaving Spotify, citing their hosting of Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reasons why she pulled her music from the platform.Arie has now shared more about her decision, referring to specific episodes in the below video.“He shouldn’t even be uttering the word. Don’t even say it, under any context.

wrote in a “Déjà Vu” statement.“While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don’t want our music—or the music we made together—to be on the same platform.”Young started the trend when he pulled his solo catalog from the streaming service last week in protest of “fake information about vaccines” being spread on the popular “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Joni Michell, a contemporary of the 60s supergroup, followed suit on the heels of Young’s announcement and Nash joined the chorus of musicians requesting to flee the service on Tuesday, calling on Spotify to be “responsible and accountable” for its content.The band’s request applies to music the band released both with and without sometimes-member Young, as well as solo releases from Crosby and Stills, according to a press release.Crosby tweeted last month that removing his catalog might be difficult because he sold his recorded music and publishing rights. Music from CSNY, CSN and Crosby, Nash and Stills was still on Spotify as of Thursday night.Rogan, who has a $100 million deal with the streaming service, addressed accusations on Sunday that his show promoted unsanctioned COVID-19 treatments and claimed that vaccinations were harmful to some.“I’m not trying to promote misinformation.

A steady stream of artists and other creators continue to join the Spotify boycott over the Joe Rogan podcast, although the streaming service’s boss Daniel Ek has told investors that it’s too soon to say to what extent that boycott is having a negative impact on subscriber numbers.The boycott was instigated by Neil Young, of course, who in turn was responding to a letter signed by 250+ scientists and medics which accused the Spotify exclusive podcast the Joe Rogan Experience of “a concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic”.After Young’s label confirmed it was removing the musician’s music from Spotify – and other artists piled onto social media pledging support and, in some cases, announcing that they were joining the boycott – both Ek and Rogan issued statements on Sunday evening, hoping to quell the rebellion.Ek said that Spotify actually had solid policies for dealing with any misinformation that appears in podcasts uploaded to the platform, but that it needed to be more transparent about those policies.He also committed to signpost COVID information approved by the scientific consensus alongside any podcast which, although adhering to Spotify’s misinformation policies, nevertheless contain controversial opinions about the pandemic.

Crosby, Stills & Nash have joined a growing number of acts who’ve demanded that their music be removed from Spotify amid the COVID controversy involving Joe Rogan.Members of the disbanded folk supergroup, which when joined by Neil Young were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, have thrown their support behind Young who last month said that he wanted all his music pulled from the streaming platform.Young took particular aim at controversial podcaster Joe Rogan – a prominent skeptic of the COVID vaccine who has a $100million exclusivity contract with Spotify – pointing out the widespread misinformation shared through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.Spotify complied with Young’s request, also announcing in a statement that it would add content advisories to all relevant podcast episodes.Now, Crosby, Stills & Nash have revealed their decision to back Young (Nash had already given his support to Young).pic.twitter.com/yyhHTQi7fm— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022“We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast,” the group wrote in a joint statement shared via Crosby’s social media.“While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences.

Spotify said monthly active users rose 18% to 404 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 as premium subscribers hit 183 million and revenue grew 24%. It reported numbers as controversy swirls around Joe Rogan.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify posted middling results for the fourth quarter of 2021 — a period that does not include the recent controversy over Neil Young and other musicians removing their music from the streaming giant, which is the world’s largest paid music-subscription service.Premium subscribers grew to 180 million — up 8 million from the 172 million reported last year — and monthly average users grew 18% to 406 million, from 381 million.However, ARPU (average revenue per user) grew just 3% year over year in the quarter, and just 1% on a constant currency basis. Ad-Supported revenue reached a record 15% of total revenue, according to the announcement, with gross margin at 26.5%.Spotify’s market capitalization fell about $2.1 billion over a three-day span last week after Young pulled his songs from the audio-streaming giant.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Wednesday (Feb. 2), nearly a week after Joni Mitchell requested for her music to be removed from Spotify, several of her albums remain available on the streaming service.

Failure are the latest act to announce they’re pulling their music from Spotify following the ongoing COVID controversy involving Joe Rogan.Last month hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed the open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.Soon after, Neil Young demanded that his music be pulled from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like Rogan’s podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.Other musicians and entertainers have since followed suit in removing their music and content from the platform including Janis Joplin, Graham Nash and Stewart Lee.Now, in a lengthy Facebook statement, cult alternative rockers Failure have announced that they too are planning to remove their music from Spotify in protest of the service platforming misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine as well as its overall business model.“Failure have wrestled with the question of Spotify and whether to have our newest music, which we control, on the platform,” the band began their statement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDavid Crosby and Stephen Stills have joined Neil Young and Graham Nash in asking their labels to remove their collective recordings from Spotify.According to the announcement, in support of stopping harmful misinformation about Covid-19 on Joe Rogan’s Spotify-hosted podcast, the musicians have decided to remove their records from the streaming platform including the recordings of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby-Nash, as well as Crosby’s and Stills’ solo projects. Nash has already begun the process to take down his solo recordings.In a unified statement, the band members commented, “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast. While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don’t want our music – or the music we made together – to be on the same platform.” Reps for Spotify did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.Following a similar request by Joni Mitchell, the move reunites the five artists, who have been friends and collaborators since the 1960s, in a stance that they certainly could not have imagined 50 years ago.

David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash have issued a statement supporting former bandmate Neil Young in seeking the removal of their music from Spotify in protest of podcaster Joe Rogan.

COVID vaccines.The actor hit out at the podcaster in light of COVID misinformation spreading on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, which Rogan works on in an exclusive deal with Spotify.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed an open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.“COVID is not an opinion-based situation and Mr Rogan thinking that his opinion or disclaimer for the lives he personally has affected and caused losses of – it’s not an opinion,” Stone said to TMZ.“Mr Rogan is risking people’s lives with his idiocy and his professing that his thoughts about COVID are opinions.“Infectious diseases are science, and they are fact-based situations, so the pretence that these are opinions is dangerous.“He should put a disclaimer that he’s an asshole and that his behaviour is dangerous and affecting people’s lives and deaths.”Rogan publicly responded to the situation earlier this week (January 31), as many artists have started removing their music from Spotify in protest.In a video clip posted to Instagram, Rogan addressed “some of the controversy that’s been going on over the past few days”.He told fans: “I don’t always get it right. I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.”Admitting that it is a “strange responsibility to have this many views and listeners,” he promised “to do my best in the future to balance things out”.

Sharon Stone sounded off on Joe Rogan over the way he’s approaching the COVID-19 misinformation controversy surrounding his show. Rogan’s exclusive deal with Spotify has been in the crosshairs of various critics in the last week after Neil Young announced that he was pulling his library of music from the platform unless it addressed the misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines being promoted by Rogan as well as guests on his show.

Chris Willman Music WriterCounterculture revivalism: it’s not just about vinyl after all. Principles in music, as it turns out, is another remnant of that era that’s experiencing a comeback, thanks to Neil Young being re-elevated by many to hero status for taking an influential stand.

India.Arie is leaving Spotify, citing their exclusive hosting of Joe Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reason she pulled her music.In an announcement on her Instagram last night (January 31), she shared the details behind her decision to leave the streaming giant – following on from Neil Young’s exit due to Rogan spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19.“I have decided to pull my music and podcast from Spotify,” she shared. “Neil Young opened a door that I must walkthrough.

India Arie has drawn a line in the sand against the popular digital streaming platform Spotify.Alongside Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and other COVID-19 anti-misinformation advocates, Arie made a statement via Instagram, stating that she wants her music – as well as her podcast – pulled from Spotify, citing issues with Joe Rogan and interviews stemming from The Joe Rogan Experience.“I have decided to pull my music and podcast from Spotify,” Arie wrote in an emotional post on IG. “Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through.

Graham Nash has declared his support for Neil Young, announcing plans to remove his music from Spotify in protest of the service platforming misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine.Young demanded that his music be pulled from Spotify last week, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, confirming on Wednesday (January 26) that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.Nash, Young’s longtime friend and CSNY bandmate, has now followed suit, issuing a statement to Rolling Stone in which he revealed he has requested his solo material be removed from Spotify.“Having heard the Covid disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify, I completely agree with and support my friend Neil Young and I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service,” Nash began his statement.“There is a difference between being open to varying viewpoints on a matter and knowingly spreading false information which some 270 medical professionals have derided as not only false but dangerous,” he continued.“Likewise, there is a difference between misinformation, in which one is unaware that what is being said is false, versus disinformation which is knowingly false and intended to mislead and sway public opinion.“The opinions publicized by Rogan are so dishonest and unsupported

Two more artists are joining Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren in pulling their music libraries from Spotify due to the content on Joe Rogan’s podcast.  Graham Nash and India Arie announced Tuesday that they plan to have the platform remove their music. Nash, who performed with Young in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, provided a statement to Fox News Digital explaining that his decision comes after hearing the content on "The Joe Rogan Experience."  "Having heard the Covid disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify, I completely agree with and support my friend, Neil Young and I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service," Nash said in a statement.  Joe Rogan is facing criticism over the content of his podcast.

Neil Young’s former and longtime bandmates Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, along with singer-songwriter India.Arie, are the latest musicians to join Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in announcing the removal of their songs from Spotify.

Zack Sharf Graham Nash and India Arie are the latest music artists to announce they are following in the footsteps of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell by removing their music from Spotify. Nash said in a statement that he “completely agrees” with his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate Neil Young after “having heard the COVID disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify.” Nash added, “I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service.”While Young, Mitchell and Nash exited Spotify because of Joe Rogan’s podcast spreading COVID misinformation, India Arie noted on Instagram that she is leaving Spotify because of Rogan’s “language about race.”“Neil Young opened a door that I must walk through,” Arie wrote on Instagram.

Satellite ratio and podcasting streamer SiriusXM returned to profit in the fourth quarter, posting net income of 8 cents a share, compared with a loss of 16 cents in the year-earlier period.