More than two years after removing his music from the music platform streaming Spotify, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell returned her song catalog to the service. No explanation for the retreat, after coming out in solidarity with Neil Young and his protest that Spotify gave space to programs like Joe Rogan’s, in which misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines was spread, for example, Mitchell continues in the wake of Young, who also resumed service last week.
Unlike Joni Mitchell, the celebrated author of Harvest Moon clarified why he made his work available again on the largest media platform streaming music in the world: “My decision comes at a time when Apple and Amazon music services have started to offer the same types of misinformation in podcast which I objected to on Spotify. I can’t just abandon Apple and Amazon, like I did with Spotify, because my music would have very little outlet in streaming for music lovers.”
At the heart of the issue is the podcast by Joe Rogan, one of the kings of the world of these audio programs available via streaminga controversial figure whose The Joe Rogan Experience is one of the most coveted titles in the medium. Exclusive to Spotify until a certain point, it has also been available on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Amazon Music since February.
Rogan talks about various topics and attracts guests from the most varied areas, political or cultural. Host your podcast cost Spotify around $92.5 million in 2020, when the problem of misinformation and the comedian’s aggressive and controversial attitude were well known. The renegotiation of its contract with the platform, estimated at around 229 million euros, allowed the podcast is now also available on other platforms.
In 2021, The Joe Rogan Experience it was the podcast most popular on Spotify worldwide. Created in 2009, it grew in popularity and had as guests the scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the promoter of conspiracy theories Alex Jones, the ex-CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden or the owner of Tesla and X Elon Musk. With a very male audience, each episode has an average of 11 million listeners. According to various sources, it continues to be the most listened to in the United States and in the music sector, just to name a few examples, he said. us last years with the presence of Reggie Watts, The Black Keys, Post Malone, Maynard James Keenan or Myley Cyrus.
Mitchell and Young were just some of the names who opposed Rogan’s message about Covid-19 vaccines, adding their well-known voices to those of hundreds of scientists and health professionals. At the time, Spotify pulled gallons of policing potentially harmful content — “We have removed around 20,000 episodes related to Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic”, they said in a statement — but that did not stop an open letter from more than 270 experts from criticizing the platform’s role in spreading such false information.
Rogan even advised healthy young people not to get vaccinated. Mitchell and Young, both Canadians, helped amplify the outcry against their disinforming role. Later, with Spotify’s share price falling on the stock market and a heated cross-border controversy underway, Rogan attempted a kind of apology and promised to “balance things in the future” in terms of opinions on topics such as public health.
As the British daily says The Guardian, Neil Young didn’t return to Spotify without leaving some barbs. “I hope all of you, millions of Spotify users, enjoy my music! Now, all of them will be there for you, except for the complete sound we created,” he said, attacking the platform’s lack of sound quality.
