Spotify Pulls Neil Young's Music after Demand to Cancel Joe Rogan
Musician issued ultimatum, demanded podcaster banned - platform chose Rogan
© press
Spotify is pulling all of Neil Young's music after the folk-rock star gave the audio streaming giant an ultimatum and demanded that they cancel podcaster Joe Rogan.
As Neon Nettle first reported, Young had threatened to pull all of his music from Spotify unless the platform banned Rogan from the service.
In an open letter to his management team and record label, left-wing rocker Young accused Spotify of “spreading fake information about vaccines” while issuing an ultimatum between him and Rogan.
“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young wrote.
“Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he blasted. "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
© press
Apparently, it didn’t take too long for Spotify to choose, a Wall Street Journal report has revealed.
“Spotify Technology SA is in the process of removing Neil Young’s music, according to people familiar with the matter, as the folk-rock star isn’t wavering in his objections to Joe Rogan’s podcast,” the report said.
Young had accused Rogan of using Spotify to "spread misinformation" with his hugely popular podcast show, 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,” the letter continued.
“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”
© press
In mid-2020, Rogan signed a huge deal to take his podcast exclusively to Spotify.
The licensing deal was reportedly worth more than $100 million.
The licensing agreement is one of the largest such deals in the rapidly growing podcast business.
The comedian, television host, and mixed martial arts commentator has become one of the most influential and lucrative podcast hosts in recent years.
As his popularity has grown, he has come under increasing attacks from the Left.
Rogan has previously cautioned his adoring audience against taking his advice too seriously.
"I am not a doctor," Rogan said on his podcast in April.
"I am a f***ing moron.
"And I am a cage-fighting commentator who's a dirty stand-up comedian!
"I am not a respected source of information even for me," he continued.
"But I at least try to be honest about what I am saying."
