Podcaster Joe Rogan has responded to the news that musician Neil Young is allowing his music to return to Spotify after boycotting the platform for nearly two years over Rogan’s alleged spread of COVID-19 misinformation.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Rogan addressed Young’s announcement that he can no longer avoid platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music that host podcasts containing what Young deems disinformation.
“By the way Neil Young came back to Spotify. Congratulations, Neil. Yeah. Well, that’s good news and his excuse was he said that because all of the platforms are now allowing my disinformation. Oh, let’s just go back on Spotify too. Yeah. Great to know you’ve got some ethics.”
Young had his music pulled from Spotify in early 2022 after accusing Rogan’s wildly popular podcast of misleading people about the COVID-19 vaccines. This kicked off a brief mass boycott involving other artists like Joni Mitchell.
Rogan responded at the time by saying he would try to book more balanced guests to discuss controversial topics like the pandemic. Spotify also created a information hub to combat misinformation about COVID-19.
In his recent video, Rogan reiterated that he encourages having conversations with different perspectives represented. “My podcast has always tried to allow discussions from people with diverse opinions and expertise,” he stated. “That’s healthy for the public discourse.”
Young cited Spotify’s non-exclusive licensing of Rogan’s podcast as one reason he felt compelled to reverse course and allow an outlet for his music there again. However, Young maintained his stance that Spotify enables disinformation via its podcast content.
While not directly addressing Young’s latest comments, Rogan said “I understand if some people still take issue with guest opinions shared on the show, but I’ll keep aiming to have representation from different views and credible sources.”
Spotify has not officially commented on Young’s return to the platform at this time.
This draft attempts to summarize the key events and both Rogan’s and Young’s stated perspectives in an objective, neutral tone without taking sides. I strived to represent their positions accurately based on the information provided. Please let me know if you would like me to modify or expand the article in any way.