Sometimes it is difficult to predict the future.
Sometimes it is simple: Back in late 2020, it was wonderfully obvious that by pay Joe Rogan tons of cash thanks to the freedom of its podcast, Spotify has found itself on fire. Because a large part of Rogan’s appeal – we don’t know how big his audience is, but the millions with the two numbers seem to make sense – are sparking controversy by interviewing conspiracy theorists Alex Jones.
Indeed, the list of people who criticize Spotify for its Rogan finances – as well as what Rogan has released since then – includes. Spotify staff, who complained that his podcast was transphobic, and 270 doctors and other health professionals, who wrote an open letter stating that Rogan’s podcasts were “false positives” that had been “causing scientific and medical mistrust” during the epidemic, due to the influence of Robert Malone, an anti-vaxxer banned by Twitter.
And now rock star Neil Young, who said The doctors’ open letter opened his eyes to the “terrible Covid lies found in the Spotify program,” removing his music while performing protests.
Therefore. How big is this?
Here’s one point of data: My brother-in-law just texted me asking for help with a new promotional project. Young’s argument – that in paying for Rogan’s podcast, “Spotify has become the home of a lot of Covid ‘lies. The lies are being sold for money” – has deeply affected him. (Historically, you can still find Young’s music on Amazon, Apple, and any other advertising platform.)
Here is the competition – a list of famous musicians who follow Young’s lead and re-release their recordings from Spotify:
Changes are possible. Back in the days of Neil Young’s production of popular music during the 1960’s and 1970’s, famous musicians were often involved in political controversies, sometimes risking their lives to do so. For example, Nixon officials placed John Lennon under the FBI’s control and once tried to evict him for his anti-Vietnam campaign activities.
But that conviction is no longer present in the current list of well-known musicians, who sometimes tweet about things they do not like but leave them there. Taylor Swift competed with Spotify, Apple, and the music manager who bought the rights to her books, but all of these arguments were about money and control, not ideas or vaccinations.
For him, Young – a a well-known poor character who is complained about the influx of years – he clearly sees what his release will mean: “I sincerely believe that other artists can move, but I can’t wait for this to happen,” he wrote on his website this week.
So unless it exists information of people like my brother-in-law, expecting Spotify to do what it has done every time people complain about their partnership with Rogan: none.
Spotify bet billions of dollars that podcasting will be a lucrative business, with Rogan being the largest podcaster in the world. It has to take a lot, more than the absence of a legacy that hasn’t produced a popular song since 1989 to change.
Spotify will oppose that form, yes. It claims to take all these things very seriously, and always checks its content to see if it violates content rules, which it has not disclosed publicly. Here, for the record, is the words of the company:
“We want all the global music to be available to Spotify users. This comes with a huge responsibility in regulating audience safety and freedom for producers. We have detailed information and have removed more than 20,000 COVID-19-related data since the epidemic began. regret Neil’s idea of deleting his songs on Spotify, but we hope to receive him soon.
It is worth mentioning here that Spotify, like other professional distribution companies, is not free to make all kinds of decisions and do not want to share them. See, for example, his 2018 decision to remove singers such as R. Kelly – who has long been criticized for his sexuality – from his list but not from the ministry alone. After a couple of weeks of criticism from artists and managers, that left the process. (Kelly was convicted cases of smuggling and sex three years later; his songs remain on Spotify.)
And while Spotify often argues that, like YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook, it is a non-political platform that connects manufacturers and individuals who want to participate in the things that producers create, the controversy does not apply to Rogan’s case: Although they are not. Professionally using Spotify, he is highly paid by them, that stuff you can’t hear anywhere but Spotify.
But so far those differences have not diminished. Frequently, Spotify is asked about Rogan, and the company responds in the same way as shrug. “For us, I live with a diverse voice of people, heard around the world,” the chief said Dawn Ostroff told me last year. “And he remains very popular.”
Expect more questions next week, as Spotify announces its quarterback earnings. Do not wait for another answer.
