Spotify: a question of identity

Neil Young’s boycott was ‘a PR disaster’ for Spotify and wiped more than $2bn off its value 

The Neil Young Spotify website page
(Image credit: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Not for the first time in his maverick career, Neil Young has opened a can of worms,” said Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian. The Canadian musician’s boycott of Spotify – in protest at sharing a platform with the vaccine-sceptical US comedian Joe Rogan – has proved “a PR disaster” for the music-streamer, which acquired Rogan’s show for $100m in 2020. Enraged by what he views as the promotion of “life-threatening Covid misrepresentation”, Young, 76, issued an ultimatum: “They can have Young or Rogan, but not both.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us