Spotify’s market cap drops $2B amid Neil Young, Joe Rogan controversy

Young asked Spotify to remove his music in exchange for Rogan’s podcasts on the platform.

What you need to know

• Spotify lost more than $2 billion in market value after Neil Young pulled his music from the streaming platform.
• The Canadian-American singer pulled his songs from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan’s podcast.
• Rogan is accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines through his podcast.

Spotify’s market value fell by $2.1 billion due to Joe Rogan controversy. Canadian-American singer Neil Young removed his music from the streaming giant a few days ago, accusing Spotify of supporting Rogan in spreading disinformation about the vaccine.

Following Yang’s protest, Spotify’s stock price fell 6% in just three days from Jan. 26 to 28, according to a Variety report. Canadian singer Joni Mitchell has also put her focus on Young and dropped her songs from one of the best music streaming services.

The boycott followed the publication in December of an open letter to Spotify signed by 270 doctors and professors urging the platform to adjust its content. The letter cited an episode in Joe Rogan’s experience in which doctor Robert Malone promoted an upcoming anti-vaccine rally and claimed the public had been “hypnotized” to get vaccinated.

The scientists wrote:

By allowing the spread of false and socially harmful assertions, Spotify is making its hosted media damage the public’s trust in scientific research and cast doubt on the credibility of the data-driven guidance provided by medical professionals.

Spotify’s stock price had fallen earlier this month before its latest loss, with the company reporting a 25% drop as of Jan. 25. That was the day before Young’s song was pulled from Spotify.

The streaming service said at the time (via the BBC) that it had “removed more than 20,000 episodes of Covid-related podcasts” since the start of the pandemic. However, Rogan’s podcasts are still available on the platform.

If you’re one of those people who wants to leave Spotify because of the Joe Rogan controversy, you might want to switch to another music streaming platform like YouTube Music. Ara Wagoner of Android Central makes a compelling case.