This isn’t the first time that Neil Young removed his music from Spotify. Back in 2019, he had it removed due to low service quality but later allowed it to return, according to Rolling Stone. “I want people to hear my music no matter what they have to get through to do it,” he told the outlet at the time. “I’m just trying to make it so they hear a lot more and enjoy it a lot more, but sell it for the same price because music is music.”
Joe Rogan, however, has had a much more consistently positive relationship with Spotify. He and the platform joined forces in 2020 to make his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” exclusive to Spotify, per NPR. Since then, Rogan’s podcast has gone on to become Spotify’s most popular globally offered podcast, and their deal is reportedly worth $100 million.
Rogan’s comments about COVID-19, including his opinion that those who are young and healthy have no need for the vaccine, have raised questions about his misuse of his extensive reach, per The Verge. In fact, Dr. Fauci has expressed concerns over Rogan and medical professionals have also published an open letter urging Spotify to “take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform.”