Musician Neil Young, annoyed with Spotify’s choices over a podcast accused of making anti-vaccine remarks, advised the platform’s employees to leave.
The tensions between Neil Young and the management of Spotify do not fall. The singer returned to the charge against the music streaming platform on February 7, 2022, posting a short note on his blog in which he advised employees of the service to resign. And pointing the finger at his boss, Daniel Ek, accused of being the real problem.
” To the folks at Spotify, I say Daniel Ek is your problem — not Joe Rogan. Ek pulls the strings. Leave this place before it devours your soul. Ek’s stated goals are about numbers — not art, not creativity “Charges the Canadian musician, who has entered into open war against Spotify, of which he criticizes the lack of ethics.
At the heart of the matter, the presence of Joe Rogan’s podcast, which has been singled out by representatives of the medical profession. One program in particular aroused the ire of several health professionals, because it took up arguments against vaccination. Neil Young got involved and warned Spotify: he had to choose between his song or Joe Rogan’s misinformation.
The rest of the story proved unfavorable for Neil Young, as Spotify did not seek to retain Neil Young to the point of having to waive Joe Rogan. Its programs have met with significant success on the music platform and are also a powerful lever for attracting and retaining listeners. Neil Young, keeping his word, then left the catalog.
Following this face-to-face, other artists took up the cause of Neil Young. Singer Joni Mitchell has also packed up, as have Graham Nash and India Arie. Others close to Neil Young, like David Crosby and Stephen Stills, did the same. Will there be other defections? In any case, Neil Young invites his peers to leave Spotify in his blog post.
113 shows from the podcast have been removed from Spotify
According to a site that keeps a tally of shows from Joe Rogan’s podcast that have been removed from Spotify, as of February 8, no less than 113 episodes are missing, out of a total of 1,772. from Spotify suddenly jumped at the beginning of February, with the deactivation of 70 episodes at once, because controversies over old broadcasts rebounded.
This wave of recent withdrawals has been caused by the use of racist terminology, in particular the term “nigger”, “nègre” in French, the use of which does not at all involve the same issues depending on who pronounces it in the States. States: if black people seize it to give it a new symbolic charge, its use by others is taboo and considered offensive.
According to an internal memo seen by The Verge on February 6, Daniel Ek explained that his teams approached Joe Rogan to talk about it and, again according to the CEO of Spotify, the controversial host decided on his own to withdraw. the offending episodes. Daniel Ek had at the same time condemned Joe Rogan’s past comments, calling them offensive and hurtful.
” We should have clear lines around content and take action when they’re crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope “, he had, however, tempered, effectively dismissing the prospect of ejecting Joe Rogan from Spotify. A position that may be difficult to maintain over time, if other past controversies resurface.