False note for the Spotify online listening platform. The company saw its stock market rating plummet and its number of subscribers decline after the American-Canadian singer Neil Young had carried out his threat.
The 76-year-old musician earlier this week accused Spotify of misinformation about COVID-19 by agreeing to host popular and controversial Joe Rogan’s podcast. The latter has several times erroneously questioned the safety of vaccines, in addition to encouraging unauthorized antiviral treatments. “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both, “warned the artist before removing his songs from the platform.
Neil Young has 2.4 million subscribers on Spotify. But Joe Rogan’s podcast weighs even more heavily. The show The Joe Rogan Experience was number 1 on Spotify in 2021 in a very competitive market. In Canada, 21% of those who consumed podcasts in 2019 listened to Joe Rogan at least once in the last month, the equivalent of 8% of the Canadian population, according to the firm Signal Hill Insights, which co-produces the report.
“A place of disinformation”
“Spotify has become a place for potentially deadly misinformation about COVID-19. Lies sold for money,” Neil Young said in his post announcing the removal of his songs from the website. It should be noted that the native of Ontario survived an attack of poliomyelitis as a child when no vaccine existed against this disease.
After the artist’s public outing, many angry fans announced on social media that they were canceling their Spotify subscription.
The stock market index of the Swedish giant has continued to fall since the start of this scandal. The company lost more than 25% of its value in two weeks. A spokesperson for the platform stressed that Spotify was “attempting to balance both the safety of listeners and the freedom of creators, according to a statement sent to media. We have removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision [Young] to remove his music from Spotify, but we hope to welcome him back soon”.
With its 172 million paying users, Spotify sits at the top of online music sites. The company monopolizes 31% of this global market, ahead of Apple (15%) and Amazon Music (13%), according to a study by MIDiA Research published a few days ago.