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Neil Young will return his music to Spotify, two years after removing it in protest of podcast host Joe Rogan’s Covid-19 shows, the veteran rock musician announced on his website on Tuesday.
Without naming Rogan, Young wrote: “My decision comes as Apple and Amazon music services have begun offering the same misinformation podcast features I opposed on Spotify.” Rogan previously had an exclusive deal with Spotify, which has since been renewed to allow for wider distribution of his show.
In January 2022, Young drew a lot of attention by accusing Spotify of “spreading false information about vaccines” through Rogan’s show, and gave the platform an ultimatum: “You can keep Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Rogan, a comedian and actor, has become one of the most popular and influential figures in podcasting with his show “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which features long, free-form interviews with guests such as Elon Musk, Ye, scientists and fellow comedians.
Days before Young’s public letter, a group of doctors, scientists and public health officials called on Spotify to crack down on Covid-19 misinformation, pointing to an episode of Rogan’s show that featured Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist and vaccine skeptic who promoted a theory. that millions of people had been “hypnotized” by the coronavirus.
Following Young’s outcry, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also removed her music from Spotify, and the R&B singer India.Arie Clips circulated showing Rogan using a racial slur repeatedly on the show. Rogan apologized for the use of the word and Spotify silently removed dozens of episodes of your show. Rogan also said that he was willing to have “more experts with different opinions right after I have the controversial ones.”
In a public statement at the time, Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, said: “It’s important to me that we don’t take the position of being censors of content while also ensuring that there are rules and consequences for those.” those who violate them.” The company added a “content advisory” notice to any podcast episodes that involved Covid.
Spotify signed Rogan to a deal in 2020, valued at at least $200 million, that made his show exclusive to that platform. Last month, the company announced a new multi-year deal with Rogan in which Spotify would also distribute “The Joe Rogan Experience” to other podcast platforms, as well as YouTube. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the new deal could be worth it up to 250 million dollars.
In his statement Tuesday, Young did not give a timeline for when his music would return to Spotify, and a Spotify representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last year, in an analysis of how Young’s streaming activity had changed since he removed his music from Spotify, Billboard He estimated that the protest had cost him about $16,000 in royalties a month.