Spotify over the past few weeks has faced criticism over its most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan.
He is known to frequently host guests with controversial opinions, especially on topics like COVID-19 vaccines.
Rogan has regularly stirred controversy with his views on the pandemic, government mandates and the use of vaccines to control the spread of the coronavirus.
He signed a £75m deal with Spotify in 2020 and has an estimated 11 million listeners per episode.
Why do people want Joe Rogan off Spotify?
On Wednesday, Spotify confirmed it had removed Young’s music.
Late Friday, Joni Mitchell also said she asked to have her music removed.
The reasoning is that neither wants to be associated with a platform that openly hosts misinformation for profit.
Why did Spotify keep Joe Rogan on the platform?
Of course, Joe Rogan is more valuable to Spotify than Neil Young.
As popular as Young’s music is, there was really no question that from a business perspective, the company would choose to support Rogan.
The company spent $100 million in 2020 for The Joe Rogan Experience, which averages 11 million listeners per episode.
That’s a huge draw for its platform, and more importantly a huge source of advertising revenue.
