Opinion | Neil Young Says ‘No More’ to Spotify - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/opinion/neil-young-spotify-rogan.html
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/01/27/opinion/27Swisher-image/27Swisher-image-facebookJumbo.jpg It’s no surprise to me that the singer-songwriter Neil Young followed through on his threat to pull his music from Spotify in protest of the Covid misinformation spouted by that streaming service’s brightest star, Joe Rogan.
Young’s move is certainly a grand gesture, but if the goal was to shame Spotify into cleaning up its act, it likely won’t work. There just aren’t enough quality alternatives to force the issue.
Which brings me back to Neil Young. Sure, I have all kinds of affection for his artistry, dating from my teenage years, so I want to see him succeed. But the impact of leaving Spotify amounts to just the same old huffery and puffery when there’s nowhere else to run to. Good P.R., no doubt, but it has almost no impact.
Editors’ Picks
A New Generation of Influencers Has Discovered D.I.Y. on a Tiny Budget
The James Webb Space Telescope and a Quest Every Human Shares
Watch the Throne: How Joel Coen Came to Make ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’
Young — and whoever is next — needs to think hard about how he can find other homes beyond the big platforms and support them with the gift of his music and allow his work to last into eternity. After all, I heard, rock ’n’ roll can never die.
