The decision to pull their music off of Spotify could lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
According to a report from Billboard, removing his music from the streaming service could cost Young over $750,000 a year and Mitchell could lose more than $270,000. The Billboard report estimated that Spoitfy represented 43 percent of Young's music streams worldwide. However, Young claimed in a statement on his website announcing his decision that the percentage of streams from Spotify was 60 percent.
Since Young's decision to remove his songs, several artists have followed suit in protest of Joe Rogan's Spotify podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, which has been accused of spreading misinformation about COVID and vaccines.
Young criticized Spotify for "spreading fake information about vaccines—potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them."
"Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue," Mitchell announced on her website on Friday.
Nils Lofgren of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band has also asked to remove his music from Spotify, but it is unclear how much his move will cost him.
Lofgren explained in a statement posted to the Neil Young Archives that 27 years of his music has been taken off the app and that he is also reaching out to labels that own his earlier music to have them removed as well.
Artist India Arie and Young's former bandmate Graham Nash have also requested their music be pulled from the app. Arie cited Rogan's "language around race," as the reason for her taking her music off Spotify.
Spotify altogether has reportedly lost anywhere from $2 to $4 billion in valuation due to the controversy, and Spotify shares dropped 6 percent from January 26 to the 28th, according to Variety.
Spotify confirmed last week that it's working to add advisory warnings to any podcast on its platform that discusses the virus to confront the potential spread of misinformation.
Meanwhile, Joe Rogan's podcast continues to stand as the most popular and most-listened-to on Spotify, as it reaches an estimated 11 million listeners per episode. His contract with Spotify, signed in 2020, was an exclusive deal reported to be worth over $100 million.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a statement, "We take this seriously and will continue to partner with experts and invest heavily in our platform functionality and product capabilities for the benefit of creators and listeners alike."
Newsweek reached out to Universal Music Group for additional comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Emma Mayer is a Newsweek Culture Writer based in Wyoming. Her focus is reporting on celebrities, books, movies, and music. ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
