Neil Young-Spotify feud – attacking free speech is not rock ‘n’ roll

Rock ‘n’ roll has a long and proud history of fighting back against the system. But we live in a clown world where everything has been inverted. The metaphysical “spirit of youth” that once drove rebellious rockers to take on “the man” has been subverted. We find ourselves living in a time when a trio of left-wing septuagenarian rockers are demanding that anyone who questions multinational billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies is shut down, silenced or cancelled. The latest addition to this censorious coterie include Joni Mitchell and, er, Nils Lofgren (me neither). The instigator was Neil Young and the target was Spotify.  

For some of you this story will mean very little. The average under-30 will not have heard of Neil Young. Those aged between 31 and 60 will likely say “Neil Young is still alive?” While the over-60s will ask “what is Spotify?” But for the rest of us, this is a part of a crucial debate over free speech.

Outraged that it was giving a platform to the vaccine-sceptic Joe Rogan, the Canadian rocker issued an ultimatum to Spotify. Young accused the streaming company of promoting “life-threatening Covid misinformation.” This, he said, is “causing death” and demanded that Spotify either remove his music or ditch Rogan. In a now deleted post he told Spotify defiantly “they can have Rogan or Young, not both.”

Rogan hosts the Joe Rogan Experience — a podcast where he invites guests from across the political divide to debate ideas in long form discussions. Sometimes lasting up to four hours, they discuss everything from body-positivity to trophy hunting. One of Rogan’s recent guests that has incensed Young is Dr Robert Mallone. 

In his discussion with Rogan, Mallone was lambasted for saying “think twice about giving these jabs to your kids.” Is this what really counts as “misinformation” these days? Some countries are not vaccinating young children, most notably Sweden.

Banning people like Mallone for expressing a qualified medical opinion will only reinforce scepticism, leading those who are reluctant to get vaccinated to believe there’s a vast conspiracy theory about important information being suppressed. 

But the strongest argument against banning sceptics is the free speech argument. If you remove controversial opinions from a mainstream platform like the Joe Rogan Experience, where their statements and claims can be debated and interrogated, they go into the darkness. And sunlight, as they say, is the best disinfectant. Rogan, for his part, has pledged to offer more balanced views on his show. 

The cynic in me thinks there’s something else at work here. Is this really a principled stand by Young? Last year he sold the rights to 50 per cent of his 1,180 song back catalogue for a reported $150 million. He has long claimed that Spotify never paid him enough. Is this all just part of a personal vendetta the cantankerous old rocker has against the Swedish streaming giant? Or is it nothing more than a cynical PR stunt to thrust him back into the limelight?

Young is no stranger to public outbursts. In 2018 he complained about Donald Trump using his song Rockin’ in the free world at campaign rallies as he didn’t have permission to use it – before admitting he had no legal way of stopping him. 

A number of commentators have praised Spotify for supporting Rogan. From a financial perspective, it was a no-brainer. The company paid Rogan an estimated $100 million for the exclusive rights to host his podcast. When you consider each episode attracts roughly 11 million listeners (ten times the audience of primetime CNN), you can see why it took no time at all for the company to make up its mind. But Spotify has not always been so principled. When Rogan left YouTube for the dizzying heights of Spotify, a number of his more controversial episodes were not made available. 

Spotfiy’s reason may have been financial but it causes me concern. How long before an artist with a much younger profile — say, Taylor Swift —does the same? We will have to wait and see.

Young is a great musician. On the Beach and Harvest Moon are great records. But we need to separate the art from the artist. Young is wrong on this. I understand his position — both he and Mitchell had polio as children. As such they owe their life to the polio vaccination. But debate dies when you silence the other side.

After a wave of public backlash from outraged Young fans, Spotify is now allegedly “taking action” to stop misinformation. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also waded in, expressing concern to Spotify over misinformation. Seeing as they were paid a reported £18 million to work with the company, it will be interesting to see how far the couple will go to stick to their principles.