Neil Young And Joe Rogan Spotify don’t want him around anymore.

Neil Young Gave Spotify An Ultimatum: Him Or Joe Rogan. Today, You Can Still Find Rogan On Spotify

By Liam Edgar

To paraphrase the late Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Spotify don’t want him around anymore.

The giant music-streaming service pulled the music of rock ‘n’ roll elder statesman Neil Young after the crooner gave the company an ultimatum: either they keep Young and his music or Joe Rogan’s podcast.

“Not both,” as Young wrote on his website. Spotify went with Rogan.

The announcement of Young’s departure came a day after he issued his threat.

The Wall Street Journal reported that it was actually Young’s decision. But clearly, Spotify had a powerful incentive to stick with Rogan.

In November 2020, the company struck a $100 million deal to keep the stand-up comedian and MMA guru’s podcast exclusive to Spotify.

“Rogan is central to Spotify’s podcast strategy in attracting listeners and ad dollars to its platform and shows,” the Journal noted.

On the other hand, Young is 76 and despite his decades-long long career in rock as well as folk music, he has produced just one No. 1 hit – “his famous “Heart of Gold” track – which topped the charts 50 years ago.

The Journal did note that Young had 2.4 million followers on Spotify.

Rogan, in comparison, pulls in 11 million people per episode. Business Insider reported in 2020 that Rogan alone had 5 percent of Spotify’s podcast audience.  

“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators,” a Spotify spokesman told the Journal Wednesday.

“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” the spokesman added.

According to the Journal, Spotify has erased more than 20,000 COVID-19-related podcast episodes since the pandemic started.

But it kept Rogan, who has been criticized lately for willing to provide a platform to critics of the COVID vaccines and the mandates for jabs, masks, and lockdowns.

Young did not go quietly.

On his website, he wrote, “Losing 60% of worldwide streaming income by leaving SPOTIFY is a very big deal, a costly move, but worth it for our integrity and beliefs. Misinformation about COVID is over the line.”

“I sincerely hope that other artists can make a move, but I can’t really expect that to happen,” Young added. “I did this because I had no choice in my heart. It is who I am. I am not censoring anyone. I am speaking my own truth.” 

One person who reveled in Spotify’s choice was Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who like Rogan has jousted with the public health establishment, primarily Dr. Anthony Fauci, over its policies and its honesty.

After Young’s departure was announced, Paul tweeted, “Bye Bye, Hey Hey, Neil Young is gone today. It’s better to boycott than to just obey. Bye Bye, Hey Hey.”

“Seeya @Neilyoung.”

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