R&B legend India.Arie has announced that she'll be following Neil Young's lead by removing her music and SongVersation podcast from Spotify in light of the platform's bolstering of Joe Rogan — but she's adamant that the podcast host is problematic for more than his perpetuation of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
"I have decided to pull my music and podcast from Spotify," Arie wrote in an Instagram post yesterday (January 31). "Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through."
The artist continued, "I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons OTHER than his Covid [sic] interviews... For me, it's also his language around race."
Just last week, The Joe Rogan Experience hosted none other than notorious right-wing University of Toronto professor emeritus Jordan Peterson. He and Rogan — two white men — went on to have a lengthy discussion about what it means to be Black.
Identifying the larger issue at hand with Spotify, Arie added: "What I am talking about is respect — who gets it and who doesn't. Paying musicians a fraction of a penny? And HIM $100 [million]? This shows the type of company they are and the company that they keep. I'm tired."
Spotify signed a $100 million USD contract with Rogan in 2020 for exclusive rights to his podcast, about which Young delivered the streaming service an ultimatum last week. His music has since been removed from the platform, and Joni Mitchell followed suit: "I stand with Neil Young!"
Scrambling in the wake of Young's protest, Spotify announced that they would be adding a content warning to podcasts about COVID-19 while Rogan made a 10-minute video responding to the widespread criticisms of his podcast spreading vaccine misinformation, saying: "I am very sorry [Young and Mitchell] feel that way."
See Arie's Instagram post announcing her departure from the platform below.
"I have decided to pull my music and podcast from Spotify," Arie wrote in an Instagram post yesterday (January 31). "Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through."
The artist continued, "I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons OTHER than his Covid [sic] interviews... For me, it's also his language around race."
Just last week, The Joe Rogan Experience hosted none other than notorious right-wing University of Toronto professor emeritus Jordan Peterson. He and Rogan — two white men — went on to have a lengthy discussion about what it means to be Black.
Identifying the larger issue at hand with Spotify, Arie added: "What I am talking about is respect — who gets it and who doesn't. Paying musicians a fraction of a penny? And HIM $100 [million]? This shows the type of company they are and the company that they keep. I'm tired."
Spotify signed a $100 million USD contract with Rogan in 2020 for exclusive rights to his podcast, about which Young delivered the streaming service an ultimatum last week. His music has since been removed from the platform, and Joni Mitchell followed suit: "I stand with Neil Young!"
Scrambling in the wake of Young's protest, Spotify announced that they would be adding a content warning to podcasts about COVID-19 while Rogan made a 10-minute video responding to the widespread criticisms of his podcast spreading vaccine misinformation, saying: "I am very sorry [Young and Mitchell] feel that way."
See Arie's Instagram post announcing her departure from the platform below.
