Time for a Wrap on Spotify
Profiting from misinformation during a pandemic is blood money.
What happened
Last week Canadian folk legends Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify in protest of vaccine misinformation by The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, sparking a major public conversation on whether we should #DeleteSpotify.
Neil Young asked for the breakup after reading a letter signed by 250 medical practitioners, scientists and educators condemning Rogan's #1 podcast for spreading COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation. Among other artists and celebrities, Joni Mitchell has since pulled their music and support from the platform, and thousands of users have followed suit in cancelling their subscriptions and calling on Spotify to end the podcast deal with Rogan.
The Original Exodus
Leading the Exodus
Neil Young
The Best Show Podcast
Joni Mitchell
Nils Lofgren
Prince Harry and Meaghan Markle
Brene Brown
Science Versus podcast
Crosby, Stills, Nash
India Arie
Roxane Gay
Spotify Exodus from the Twitterverse
Hit em' where it hurts: their bottom line
The response:
Since Young's first announcement Spotify has lost over
$4 billion in market value. If things continue in this trajectory, that amount will certainly grow. Not only that, the number of subscription cancellations leads the platform to have to temporarily shut down its live customer service.
But the dip over the weekend was not enough: Rogan's $100 million Spotify deal would stay. Instead, Spotify announced it would create some (weak) changes, including a "COVID-19 information hub" and content advisories while continuing to claim that Spotify shouldn't "take on the position of being a content censor."
So, where does that leave us? Should we be pulling the ripcord on our accounts?
"Good People on Both Sides" - "both sides" BS
Listen, it's one thing to be respectful, but it's another to ultimately act as if promoting dangerous, unsupported medical advice on a podcast is okay too. It puts hundreds of immunocompromised people at risk of serious harm if others do not get vaccinated. By standing with those who choose to encourage anti-vaxxers by justifying it as "hearing out both sides," we inevitably promote ideas that will not only harm people but also risk killing thousands and letting this pandemic drag on longer than it needs to.
We've been aware of how much Rogan's misinformation has spread over the past two years and giving him a platform on one of the most famous music apps allows him to continue doing so. Y'all remember when we let Donald Trump speak with no filter or caution for years, right?
For more on the myth of neutrality, please check out our IG Highlight called 'On Neutrality'.
Blood Money
A Stand Against Misinformation - Make this moment a movement
We should take the time to note that when Neil Young initially said he was going to pull his music because of misinformation from Joe Rogan's podcast, it was met with some chuckles. No offense to the legendary Neil Young, but Joe Rogan is a giant.
But Neil Young also has the power of truth on his side. He decided to stand up against an extremely vocal minority and presented a way to help battle against them. Neil Young may have opened a door, but it's up to us to walk through it and show that we won't tolerate media corporations that profit off of disseminating misinformation.
What can we do about it? What now?
While #DeleteSpotify is trending, we think that consumers have two roles to play and, that they need to happen sooner rather than later.
Delete your premium subscription. Now here us out - you'll still have access to your playlist and music; you'll just have to endure ads for a bit (or use free apps like songshift to help you transfer Spotify playlists elsewhere). And of course, we're not saying break up with Spotify forever, you are more than welcome to get back together with Spotify in the future, but the best way to get a company to listen in our capitalist world is to hit its bottom line.
Make Some Noise:
Twitter: Tag your favourite artists/podcasters + Spotify and ask them to #deletespotify.
Instagram: Comment on your favourite artists/podcasters most recent posts and ask them to #deletespotify
Middle fingers up... tell him, boy, bye - from the Twitterverse
Sources: CBC, Complex, Global News 2022, Vulture, the Daily Beast
