Spotify’s difficulties go beyond Neil Young and Joni Mitchell’s departure. Two additional musicians have indicated that they would be removing their music from the popular streaming service as a result of the current issue surrounding Joe Rogan’s show The Joe Rogan Experience and how it is handling information about Covid-19.
Both Graham Nash and India Arie have indicated that they would be removing their music off Spotify, citing the company’s actions in regards to Covid-19 disinformation and discriminatory trash posted on The Joe Rogan Experience. Young and Mitchell previously withdrew their music last week in response to complaints regarding disproven Covid-19 claims made during the programme. Nils Lofgren has done the same. ALSO As more musicians quit Spotify, the issue surrounding Joe Rogan grows
While the most of the criticism has concentrated on Rogan’s dubious comments concerning COVID-19 immunizations, Arie has stated on Instagram that her primary reason for withdrawing her songs from Spotify is his recent rants about race. “I believe in free expression,” the R&B singer-songwriter added. “Joe Rogan, on the other hand, irritates me for reasons other than his Covid interviews. For me, it’s also his racial language.”
Arie is alluding to a conversation last month on The Joe Rogan Experience between Rogan and controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson. “There’s such a wide range of people,” Rogan added. “Unless you’re talking to someone who is, like, 100 percent African, from the darkest part of the continent, where they don’t wear clothing all day and have grown all that melanin to defend themselves from the sun. Even the term “Black” is strange. It becomes really odd when applied to folks who are physically my colour.”
In her letter, Aerie cited the gap between what Spotify pays artists in royalties and what the corporation paid to make Rogan’s show a Spotify exclusive. “What I’m talking about is respect – who gets it and who doesn’t,” Arie’s message continued. “Paying musicians pennies on the dollar? And what about his $100 million? This demonstrates the sort of firm they are and the type of company they maintain. I’m exhausted.”
In the aftermath of the scandal, Rogan posted a 10-minute video on Instagram in which he declared, “I’m not trying to spread disinformation. I’m not trying to offend anyone. “With my podcast, I’ve never attempted to do anything other than talk to people and have fascinating discussions.” Rogan went on to say that he “makes sure that I’ve researched these issues – particularly the controversial ones – and have all the essential data at hand before I tackle them.”
Despite these apparent attempts to de-escalate the situation, it is evident that some musicians do not believe Rogan’s statement was acceptable and would rather withdraw their music from Spotify unless the business removes The Joe Rogan Experience from its service. So far, the only indication of a shift comes from Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, who stated this week that the firm has “an duty to do more to give balance and access to widely-accepted knowledge from the medical and scientific institutions leading us through this unique period.”
“These are really complicated situations,” Ek remarked. “We’ve heard you, particularly those from the medical and scientific sectors.””
As things stand, it is unclear that Spotify would take any major action against Rogan’s programme, potentially opening the door for additional musicians to abandon the platform in the coming weeks.