Neil Young's music is back on Spotify… kind of

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Joe Rogan fans had a freak out in the early hours after noticing the media personality’s $200million (£147m) podcast had suddenly vanished from Spotify. The Joe Rogan Experience podcast was notably missing from the streaming platform on Monday morning, sparking mass confusion. The controversial programme did not appear in search results and a message read: ‘Couldn’t find that podcast.’ It returned a short while later after an apparent technical glitch, but regular listeners demanded answers as to why their favourite pod was mysteriously MIA. ‘Seeing reports that this message now comes up for many users trying to listen to Joe Rogan on Spotify. I tried 30 other podcasts and they all worked fine.

Joe Rogan has taken flak for hosting guests with sometimes-controversial opinions on vaccines and political issues, but a Spotify spokesperson said it was simply a technical malfunction.“It’s a technical issue affecting a number of our shows and should be resolved soon,” the spokesperson told The Post.The podcast appeared to be inaccessible for about 20 minutes.Neil Young recently pulled his music off of Spotify in protest of Rogan. Spotify paid Joe Rogan at least $200 million to exclusively host his podcast, according to the New York Times.

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Spotify may have paid at least $200million for the exclusive rights to Joe Rogan’s podcast, double the figure that was previously reported.The streaming giant secured an exclusive license to host The Joe Rogan Experience in May 2020, when it was widely reported the controversial podcast host had been paid over $100million as part of the deal.However, “two people familiar with the details of the transaction” have since claimed to The New York Times that the three-and-a-half-year deal was actually worth twice what was initially believed: at least $200million. Spotify has yet to publicly comment on this report.The Times points out Spotify had previously purchased whole content companies – podcast network Gimlet Media and digital media brand The Ringer – both for slightly less than $200million each.In recent weeks, Spotify has come under fire for hosting The Joe Rogan Experience, its biggest podcast in the US and many other countries, with an estimated per-episode listenership of around 11million people.Last month, Neil Young requested the platform pull his catalogue, citing “false information about vaccines” being spread on the platform and specifically targeting Rogan’s podcast.

It was previously reported that Joe Rogan was being paid $100 million for his multi-year contract with Spotify, but now it’s being claimed that the company paid him a lot more than that.

Like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and India Arie, Ava DuVernay’s Array is no longer doing business with Spotify.

Like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and India Arie, Ava DuVernay’s Array is no longer doing business with Spotify.

Ava DuVernay‘s company is backing out of a big deal.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify’s deal with Joe Rogan, the popular podcast host who has attracted a swarm of controversy in recent weeks, is worth more than $200 million, according to a new report by the New York Times.Citing anonymous sources, the Times reported that “the true value” of the deal negotiated between Spotify and Rogan — spanning three and a half years — was “at least $200 million, with the possibility of more.” Previously, the pact had been said to be worth more than $100 million, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Over the past month, Rogan has faced a backlash from Spotify users and artists over his use of the N-word in past episodes of his podcast and accusations that Rogan’s show has spread COVID misinformation. On the Feb.

India.Arie has clarified her reasons for leaving Spotify, after she became one of many artists to boycott the service in recent weeks.When she first pulled her music from the service earlier this month, Arie cited their exclusive hosting of Joe Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reason she left Spotify.“Neil Young opened a door that I must walkthrough,” she wrote on Instagram, explaining how was following on from Neil Young’s exit from Spotify due to Rogan spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19 on his podcast.“I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons other than his COVID interviews,” she said at the time.Now, in a new interview with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, Arie has discussed how Spotify’s royalties scheme and business practices also influenced her decision.Asked if Rogan was her enemy by Noah, Arie said: “My conversation has been about Spotify and its treatment of artists.“I have to say that asking for my music to be pulled from Spotify in protest doesn’t actually serve me,” she added, “but I did it in protest just because I felt like my dignity was being … I felt like I was being disrespected.”Discussing royalty payments artists get from Spotify, Arie explained: “What happens is, they say, ‘Well, this is just how it is; this is just what you get paid.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn what may be a case of unfortunate timing, Kendrick Lamar will appear in an extended Spotify podcast series that examines his classic 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly” — premiering Wednesday (Feb. 16).

In an episode-long interview with The Daily Show‘s Trevor Noah last night, singer India Arie addressed the recent Joe Rogan-Spotify controversy, mentioning – among other things – that she believes Rogan is “consciously racist.”

India Arie has labeled Joe Rogan "consciously racist" for his repeated use of the N-word. On Feb. 5, Spotify’s popular U.S.

Neil Young has spoken out over a developing conspiracy theory that his music publishing is overseen by pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer – the company behind one of the most widely-used COVID-19 vaccines.In a since-deleted letter posted to his Neil Young Archives website (as transcribed by Stereogum), Young addressed the circulated belief his views on vaccines were dictated to him by Pfizer – who, according to the conspiracy theory, own Young’s music publishing.The misunderstanding stems from the fact that a former CEO at Pfizer now serves as a senior advisor for asset manager Blackstone, which currently has a partnership with music publisher Hipgnosis – with whom Young presently works.Young described the conspiracy theory as “clever but wrong” in the letter, while also quipping “so much for Pharm Aid” – a reference to both the common conspiracy theory trope of “big pharma” and his own charity Farm Aid.“The publishing share Hipgnosis has in my copyrights is in the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, that is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange,” Young explained.“The Blackstone investment went into a separate Hipgnosis Private Fund, and none of that money was used for the Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Pfizer has not invested in Hipgnosis, but a past Pfizer CEO is a senior advisor for Blackstone.” The conspiracy theory is part of an ongoing conservative backlash against Young – most recently expressed by right-wing American rock musician Ted Nugent, who described Young as a “stoner birdbrain punk” for his recent protest against Spotify and Joe Rogan.Young removed his catalogue of albums from Spotify last month to protest the platform having Rogan’s podcast The Joe Rogan Experience as an exclusive to the service.

As if things weren’t bad enough for the people working at Spotify following all the recent controversies around the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, now they’ve got Ted Nugent coming to their defence – and via the daily podcast he records for the pro-hunting lobby group he advises and represents. Lovely stuff.On Friday night’s edition of the ‘The Nightly Nuge’ podcast, Nugent’s co-host Keith Mark brought up how that Canadian Neil Young is again talking politics in the USA, before musing how a musician that has in the past spoken up for free speech is now pro-censorship.Which isn’t true, of course, but it was Young who instigated the artist boycott of Spotify over the COVID misinformation contained in Rogan’s Spotify exclusive podcast.Young and other artists who have spoken out about the controversial COVID conversations that have occurred on Rogan’s programme insist that they are not calling for censorship.However, they argue, platforms like Spotify have a responsibility to counter misleading information that could negatively impact on people’s health, and they’d rather not be associated with any platforms that aren’t fulfilling that responsibility.Asked what he makes of Young and his Spotify boycott, Nugent initially said some nice things about his fellow musician, but then added “the guy is a complete punk”.

Ted Nugent has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding Spotify and Neil Young‘s decision to pull his music from the platform.Young last month demanded that his music be removed from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Young’s former bandmates Crosby, Stills & Nash, comedian Stewart Lee, Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, and cult alternative rockers Failure, among others.Now, controversial right-wing rocker Ted Nugent has spoken out about Young’s decision, calling the ‘Harvest Moon’ singer-songwriter “a complete punk”.Speaking on his ‘Friday Free For All’ edition of The Nightly Nuge on Friday (February 11), he said: “Well, Neil Young, God bless him. I’m sure that there’s many people that appreciate Neil Young’s creativity and his talents and his creation of wonderful music for those people who love that kind of music.

Joe Rogan returned to the stand-up stage on Tuesday night where he dedicated some time to discuss the recent cultural scandal surrounding his podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience."  The popular podcast host, whose show is exclusive to Spotify, has been the subject of scrutiny in recent days after musicians on the platform called him out for spreading COVID-19 misinformation as well as using racial slurs in past episodes. Rogan previously issued a video apology for the racial remarks and worked with the platform to remove dozens of old episodes he was no longer proud of.  However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Rogan made light of the situation during a stand-up show in Austin, Texas.Tuesday in front of a crowd of fans and supporters.

Spotify-exclusive podcast The Joe Rogan Experience this week, both on-stage and during an episode of the podcast itself.Rogan’s podcast recently prompted protest from the likes of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, with the musicians pulling their catalogues from the streaming platform.Young sparked the exodus late last month, when he requested his music be taken off Spotify, citing the platform “spreading false information about vaccines” and specifically targeting Rogan.It came after hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on Rogan’s podcast – calling the host’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.In response, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that, while the platform wouldn’t be severing ties with the controversial figure, they would be adding content advisories to podcast episodes which discussed COVID-19, directing users to their dedicated information hub.Rogan himself addressed the boycott on Instagram, telling fans: “I don’t always get it right. I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.”Shortly after, Rogan found himself embroiled in controversy again when songwriter India.Arie shared a video that compiled instances the podcast host had used the N-word on his podcast.

Chris Willman Music WriterHow will Neil Young fare as a streaming presence now that he’s taken his music off Spotify, the service that accounted for close to half of his streaming revenue prior to his initiating a break amid the ongoing Joe Rogan?The long-term effect on consumption for Young’s songs remains to be seen or felt, and the veteran rocker may yet see his numbers sink without consumers being able to access his material via music’s most popular digital destination. But in the two weeks since he made his stand, two trends became evident: first, a big surge in streaming attention as fans followed him to other services… followed by a return to the kind of numbers he had in normal times, when he was still on Spotify — but, of course, without Spotify.