Rock legend Neil Young made headlines this week for deciding to leave Spotify in protest that Joe Rogan used the service to broadcast inaccurate information about Covid-19 to his millions of listeners.
So far, however, it appears that the platform’s other big names (Barack and Michelle Obama, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Dax Shepard and the Call Her Daddy) have not done the same or cut ties with the company.
The controversy began Monday when Young published an open letter announcing his intentions to leave the service due to the treatment of the pandemic in The Joe Rogan Experience, the podcast more popular of Spotify and for which he paid Rogan a estimated $100 million to have it exclusively.
“I’m doing this because Spotify spreads false information about vaccines, which could kill those who believe the misinformation is spread by them.”wrote the musician, and then added on its website that “SPOTIFY has become the home for life-threatening COVID misinformation. Lies are sold for money.
Public health experts have long warned that the podcast by Joe Rogan presents incorrect and potentially damaging information about the coronavirus.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread false and misleading claims on his podcast, causing mistrust in science and medicine,” wrote a group of hundreds of doctors in an open letter to Spotify about the program earlier this month. “recommended not to be vaccinated Young people and children, incorrectly stated that mRNA vaccines are ‘gene therapy’, promoted the use not authorized ivermectin to treat covid-19 (contrary to the warnings of the FDA) and spread a series of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.”
A recent episode, aired on December 31, 2021, featured Dr. Robert Malone, a doctor whose Twitter account was suspended for violating his policies on coronavirus misinformation. On the show, Dr. Malone commented that vaccine advocates had “hypnotized” the public and compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust.
In December, Rogan declared that he did not get vaccinated because “Has no sense” receive the vaccine because he had already contracted the virus. For its treatment, I use drugs such as ivermectin, which experts have warned is not appropriate for coronavirus cases. The driver has stated that he is not “an anti-vaccine person” and clarified that “he encourages many people to get them”, while maintaining that young and healthy people do not need the vaccine.
The Independent has reached out to Joe Rogan for comment.
Spotify has increasingly moved to become a platform for podcasting in recent years. signed lucrative exclusive deals with stars like Kim Kardashian, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Obamas, the program Armchair Expert from actor Dax Shepard and the hugely popular podcast Call Her Daddy which was airing on Barstool, now the number two show on Spotify behind Joe Rogan. When The Independent contacted them, none of these main characters responded.
Prince Harry has previously criticized Rogan’s handling of information about the pandemic. Last May, while speaking on the podcast Armchair Expert, the royal commented that Rogan, a comedian and mixed martial arts enthusiast, should “steer clear” when it comes to medical advice.
“I think the problem is that, in today’s world, with disinformation [que es] just endemic, you have to be careful what comes out of your mouth,” Harry said. “News no longer exists only in the news. It reaches everywhere. So people listen to Joe Rogan and say, ‘Oh, if he says that’… There’s a [sensación] from ‘Don’t listen to me’, well, don’t say that. Just stay out of it. … If you have a platform, with a platform comes responsibility.”
Shepard responded that Rogan was “ridiculous” and “stupid” on the covid-19 issues, but he had a right to give his opinion.
Taking these earlier comments into account, an anonymous source in The Sun He said of the Duke: “Refusing to cut ties with Spotify after it has aired anti-vaccine material is incredibly hypocritical…If he was so principled and meant it, he would have cut ties, even if it came at a personal financial cost.”
Other musicians praised Young’s decision to stand his ground.
“If all artists were as punk rock as Neil Young, maybe we wouldn’t be so screwed by corporate streaming companies,” tweeted musician Margo Price.
British singer Kate Nash commented: “I really admire Neil Young for getting his music off Spotify.”
Both artists remain on Spotify.
Others have stated that few artists have the financial security in the age of streaming how to quit Spotify.
“It’s great that Neil can get his music out of S*****y, but the fact is the vast majority of us can’t afford to because the (very meager) royalties are one of the few ways to cobble together something that looks like quality of life,” Steve Sladowski, guitarist for the rock band Pup, wrote on Twitter.
The Independent has reached out to Spotify to comment on the details of their content policies regarding the coronavirus and whether Rogan will face any repercussions.
“We want all the music and audio content in the world to be available to Spotify users. With that comes a huge responsibility to balance the safety of listeners and the freedom of creators,” the service stated. streaming in a statement earlier this week. “We have detailed content policies and have removed more than 20,000 Covid-19 related podcast episodes since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but look forward to welcoming him back soon.”
the giant of streaming of music, which has an audience of approximately 299 million listeners from podcast every month assured before that it prohibits “misleading, false or dangerous content about covid-19, which may cause harm offline and/or pose a direct threat to public health”.
However, he has also bet on his biggest star of podcasts, who frequently interviews controversial guests with controversial views on climate change and gender issues.
“We want creators to believe,” said Daniel Ek, CEO and co-founder of Spotify, aThe Financial Times in 2020 following the controversy when Rogan interviewed the infamous conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones. “It’s what they do best. We’re not looking to play a role in what they should say.”
–
