Local artists take on Spotify, Joe Rogan and Neil Young
It remains to be seen how far this will go, but Graham Nash and India. Arie have joined the list of artists pulling their music from Spotify in support of Neil Young’s protest of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
Young posted an open letter Jan. 26 asking for his music to be removed from Spotify rather than share a platform with Rogan, whom he accused of spreading misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines. Rogan’s podcasts regularly draw more than 11 million listeners per episode, dwarfing all other podcasts and news broadcasts.
“Iwant you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” Young said in the now-deleted letter, reports Rolling Stone. “They can have [Joe] Roganor Young. Not both.”
With that, Spotify, which has a $100 million contract with Rogan, removed Young’s music from the service.
On Jan. 28, Joni Mitchell removed her music in support, posting on her site: “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
Since then, Nils Lofgren, a member of the E Street Band and Crazy Horse, has pulled his music, as have Nash and India. Arie.
In a nearly 10-minute video Jan. 30 on Instagram, Rogan promised to “do my best to make sure that I’ve researched these topics — the controversial ones in particular — and have all the pertinent facts at hand before I discuss them.”
In a video message Monday, Rogan defended the viral podcasts with vaccine skeptics Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough, noting that he’s hosted physicians
with more conventional opinions as well, including Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
“I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view,” he said.
“I don’t want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is. I want to show all kinds of opinions so we can all figure out what’s going on and not just about COVID, about everything, about health, about fitness, wellness, the state of the world itself.”
He also noted that he was a huge fan of both Young and Mitchell, though he seemed to confuse her with Rickie Lee Jones.
If you spend any time on social media, you’re aware of the heated discussion this has sparked about censorship and free speech, not to mention the economics of streaming services. Via Facebook, we asked Pittsburgh musicians to weigh in:
Mark Dignam, singersongwriter: “These ‘legacy’ artists are renowned for having somewhat of an air of accountability, at least to the community at large, if not in their personal lives sometimes. I feel it’s an important conversation to have in this no-holds-barred culture. Should Rogan, Spotify, corporate America be responsible for the information they disseminate, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic? It’s not just merely opinions about intangible things. People are literally dying, needlessly.”
Lauren DeMichiei, singer-songwriter: “I think it’s important for all people, musicians or not, to actually listen to the podcast they are canceling … before deciding to do so.”
Jim Dofka, Ironflame, Dofka: “It’s still a free country and if an artist wants to pull their music they can do so. One problem is Joe Rogan’s podcasts are available on YouTube, AppleMusic and most other major platforms.Yes, Rogan signed a deal with Spotify in 2020 but his podcasts are everywhere. So if the artist wants to be taken seriously they’d need to pull their music from all of those other platforms as well. I watched Rogan’s response and I now have a different outlook on what Rogan was doing. It’s not quite what the mainstream media was saying he was doing.”
Jay Wiley, singer-songwriter: “I’m a Neil Young fan and I listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast. My opinion on this, for what it’s worth (see what I did there) is Neil Young overreacted a bit but he has that right and need not be abused for it. I think the public reaction, as with most hot-button issues lately, was over-reactive as well and is what blew this all out of proportion. Rogan is a comedian with a podcast and need not be canceled, nor should Spotify. I don’t believe that anybody’s viewpoint on any side of any issue should be silenced, i.e. ‘canceled.’ I, for one, love when someone disagrees with me.... I usually end up learning something.”
Mike Berginc, Reliable Child: “I’m not surprised.
Podcasts are not evergreen content, and are subject to ebb and flow of current events. Music catalogues are typically finite. There will be friction, until Spotify decides whether it’s more like a splash-page of current topical conversations, or a huge library of (essentially free) digital music. It could be both, but artists specifically will have to come to terms with both forms of media first.”
Bill Maruca, Dead End Streets: “It’s that good old American ‘free market’ at work. Same reason I won’t shop at Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby.”
Sean McDonald, producer: “Never been a fan of either. But Spotify was messed up for musicians, writers and producers long before they hired Joe Rogan.”
Eric Weingrad the CAUSE: “There’s nothing in this ‘battle’ about censorship. People making that argument are grasping at straws. Freedom of speech does not include yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. Rogan is putting out misinformation because it makes him money. His apology is hollow, in my opinion, because he’s not going to stop doing what he does. The entire reason we are all still dealing with people being hospitalized from the virus or masking, etc. is because the misinformation machine influences people. What’s funny to me is the same people crying ‘cancel culture’ are the same folks that burned their Carhartt jackets a few weeks ago. The same folks that say “celebrities should stick to entertainment” are the very folks that made an actor (Rogan) popular for espousing his political opinions. What a world.”
Jay Malls, DJ: “Unlike Neil Young, most artists make $0 from Spotify. I hope it burns out AND fades away.”
Danny Gochnour, singer-songwriter: “I think there’s a bigger issue than Young vs. Rogan. Spotify, as well as all streaming services, exploit the artist while the CEO is worth billions and pays out $100 million for rights to a podcast known for misinformation. If 2,000 Facebook friends each downloaded one of my songs, I would earn $1,980. If those same 2,000 Facebook friends streamed one of my songs on Spotify, I would earn $6. Artists have a right to decide (to a degree) where their music is available. I applaud anyone, not just musicians, who stand by their convictions. If, and only if, all artists banded together and collectively pulled their music from streaming platforms, you would see a difference.”