Young on Friday doubled down on his anti-Spotify stance, slamming the streamer’s audio quality as “shitty, degraded and neutered” and announcing a partnership with Amazon giving new customers to Amazon Music Unlimited four months free of the premium streamer.Ī New York Times piece last July, titled “Joe Rogan Is Too Big to Cancel,” included this detail: “mong top Spotify leadership, people familiar with the company say, the notion that Mr. Anthony Fauci - but the controversy over Rogan has blown up to a new level with Neil Young’s protest. His flirtation with alt-right figures and his anti-vax and anti-masking commentary has previously drawn fire from critics - including Dr. 1 most-listened to podcast on Spotify in 2021, according to the company. Rogan, whose exclusive multiyear distribution deal with Spotify for his podcast is estimated to be worth more than $100 million, hosted the No. Hashtags #CancelSpotify, #DeleteSpotify and #ByeSpotify were trending on social media in the wake of Young’s ultimatum and Spotify’s decision to remove his music. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue,” the singer-songwriter wrote.įor Spotify investors, the concern is that the artist exodus could snowball in the coming days and drive a material number of customer cancellations. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.

However, that came before Joni Mitchell announced that she, too, would be removing her music from Spotify. Investors have been rattled by signals that Spotify’s growth may be slowing, particularly after Netflix’s warning of a significant cooldown in first quarter subscriber net adds (which precipitated a 24% drop in its share price).Īlso, it’s worth noting is that Spotify’s stock rebounded slightly Friday, closing up 1% to $172.98/share, amid a broader market upturn. 25, the day before Young’s catalog was pulled off Spotify. To be sure, Spotify’s stock price was already on the slide - having plummeted 25% year-to-date as of Jan. In a post Wednesday, Young wrote that “Spotify has recently become a very damaging force via its public misinformation and lies about COVID” and referred to an open letter from doctors and health professionals issued earlier this month calling on Spotify to crack down on coronavirus-related falsehoods on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Not both.” Spotify removed Young’s songs on Jan. That came after Young said Monday that he was demanding the company drop his music, saying that Spotify “can have Rogan or Young.

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