But as the pandemic rolled around, the Swedish streaming company found themselves with a new dilemma on their hands, as Rogan began using his podcast to amplify conspiracy theories about the virus, whether publicizing the views of anti-vaxxer guests, endorsing treatments such as ivermectin that have been widely disproven to be effective against Covid, or in the most recent instance, hosting Malone, who used the episode to promote the notion that hospitals are being financially incentivized to falsify Covid mortalities and compared U.S. At the time, many music fans (and, indeed, Spotify employees) questioned the decision, given Rogan’s history of racist remarks, transphobic jokes, and misogyny. But how did the controversy begin?įirst, there was the deal Spotify signed with Rogan in 2020, in which the company reportedly paid over $100 million for exclusive rights to his hit podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. This week, Neil Young published an open letter demanding Spotify remove his music because he didn’t want to share the platform with podcaster Joe Rogan. “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.” It comes after growing concern from medical professionals in the wake of a particularly controversial episode of Rogan’s podcast in December featuring the vaccine skeptic and right-wing media star Dr.

“Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” she wrote in a statement posted to her website. I want you to let Spotify know immediately today that I want all of my music off their platform, Young wrote to his managers in a letter initially posted on his website on Monday. Both artists have now removed their music from the platform, accusing Spotify of allowing Covid misinformation to spread by continuing to stream Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast. Rock icon Neil Young is calling out Spotify for distributing the misinformation-filled podcast by conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan. On Friday, the legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell announced she would be joining fellow musician Neil Young in his protest against Spotify. The comedian, whose The Joe Rogan Experience is Spotify’s top-streamed exclusive podcast, has prompted a fleet of musicians to pull their music from the platform, most notably Neil Young.

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