Neil Young to return to Spotify after Joe Rogan exclusive deal ends
Neil Young has announced his return to Spotify after The Joe Rogan Experience became available on all platforms rather than exclusively on the streaming giant.
In January 2022, the Canadian singer-songwriter took a stand against Spotify by removing all of his music from their catalogue. As Spotify runs ahead as the global leader in the world of music streaming platforms, the decision was a landmark move.
Young claimed his decision was due to Rogan’s controversial podcast spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. At the time, Rogan was signed exclusively to Spotify and his podcast was funded by them.
“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform,” Young wrote at the time. After Young’s move, he was swiftly followed by others as the members of Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Joni Mitchell also removed their work in solidarity.
It was a major hit to the platform which had previously stated its goal to have “all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users.”
Despite the streamer’s stance, Young doubled down on the move and also hit out at the platform’s audio quality by adding, “Why would I keep it on there when it sounds like a pixelated movie?”
Now, Rogan has penned a new innovative deal with the platform, reported to be worth $250 million, according to the AP, and Young is back because the podcast is readily available to listen to elsewhere.
The musician announced his return in a passive-aggressive statement that reads, “Spotify, the #1 streaming of low res music in the world – Spotify where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again.”
Young added, “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at Spotify. I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did with Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all.”
He maintains his issue with the streaming platform’s sound quality, however, as he concluded, “Hopefully Spotify will turn to Hi Res as the answer and sever all the music to everyone. Spotify, you can do it! Really be #1 in all ways. You have the music and the listeners! Start with a limited Hi res tier and build from there!”
While Young’s back catalogue is yet to arrive back on the service, it’s expected to come back shortly. Additionally, there is no word yet on whether Joni Mitchell or Crosby, Stills and Nash will also be returning to the platform.
Last year, Spotify reduced its workforce by 17% as part of cost-saving measures. CEO Daniel Ek described the decision as “difficult”, citing a significant slowdown in economic growth. With approximately 9,000 employees, Spotify planned to cut around 1,500 jobs in the layoffs.
Ek further explained: “We debated making smaller reductions throughout 2024 and 2025. Yet, considering the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs, I decided that a substantial action to rightsize our costs was the best option to accomplish our objectives.”
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