Neil Young returns to Spotify after Joe Rogan protest

Neil Young will return his music to Spotify, two years after withdrawing it in protest against podcast host Joe Rogan’s shows on Covid-19, the veteran rock musician announced on his website on Tuesday.

Without mentioning Rogan by name, Young wrote: “My decision comes because music services Apple and Amazon have started offering the same disinformation podcast features that I opposed at Spotify.” Rogan previously had an exclusive deal with Spotify, which has since been extended to allow for wider distribution of his show.

In January 2022, Young attracted widespread attention by accusing Spotify of “spreading false information about vaccines” through Rogan’s show, and gave the platform an ultimatum: “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”

Rogan, a comedian and actor, has become one of the most popular and influential figures in podcasting with his show “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which features long, freeform interviews with guests like Elon Musk, Ye, scientists and fellow comedians.

Days before Young’s public letter, a group of doctors, scientists and public health officials asked Spotify to crack down on Covid-19 misinformation, citing an episode of Rogan’s show in which Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist and vaccine skeptic who promoted a theory. that millions of people were ‘hypnotized’ about the coronavirus.

Following Young’s protest, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also removed her music from Spotify, and the R&B singer India.Arie circulated clips of Rogan repeatedly making racist comments during the show. Rogan apologized for his use of the word, and Spotify quietly dozens removed of episodes of his show. Rogan also said he was willing to have “more experts with different opinions right after I have the controversial ones.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a public statement at the time: “It is important to me that we do not take on the position of content censor, while also ensuring that there are rules and consequences for those who violate them.” The company added a “content advisory” notice to every podcast episode involving Covid.

Spotify signed Rogan to a deal worth at least $200 million in 2020, making his show exclusive to that platform. Last month, the company announced a new, multi-year deal with Rogan, under which Spotify would also distribute “The Joe Rogan Experience” to other podcast platforms, as well as YouTube. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the new deal could be worth it as much as $250 million.

In his statement Tuesday, Young did not provide a timeline for when his music would return to Spotify, and a Spotify representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Mitchell did not immediately answer the question of whether Mitchell would also reverse her decision.

Last year, in an analysis of how Young’s streaming business had changed since he pulled his music from Spotify, Billboard estimated that the protest had cost him about $16,000 in royalties per month.