Please don’t allow censorship here

[ReallyLoudSilence]

Although I’m a fan of many of the artists opposing Rogan’s podcast, they should not get to decide what the world can see, hear or read. I can do without them if needed. I find it ironic that many of them used their music to fight against the status quo when they were young and at the peak of popularity, and now they want to shut down any dissenting voices. It is important that there is freedom of speech in this world, and that doctors, scientists and other experts are allowed to express their concerns. Silencing our experts is a recipe for disaster.

In that scenario, whoever has the most money wins.

[o__v__o]

I don't even listen to Joe Rogan (check my stats!), but... who does this old, washed up has-been who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket think he is?

Funny how all these people who claim to be about freedom and protest want people silenced when they're saying stuff they can't counter with words of their own. That's how you know they were never honest to begin with.... they just wanted power.

I've never once played a Neil Young song on Spotify, but now I'm actively blocking his music from ever being played.

UPDATE:

It looks like they are! lol
https://pitchfork.com/news/spotify-agrees-to-pull-neil-young-music-after-his-criticism-of-joe-rogan-...

BTW: not only is Neil Young a salty out-of-touch crybaby... he's woefully uninformed. Big surprise there.

"I first learned of this problem by reading that 200 plus doctors had joined forces"
Yeah, that never happened. That was a hoax... it was mostly people who didn't practice medicine at all... some were literally just youtubers, or dentists.. or consultants. The entire purpose was for people like Young to mindless repeat it after it was reported on by the media (who is complicit in the lie)

UPDATE 2 (READ THIS!)

Who owns most of Neil Young's catalogue anyway?

That would be Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a British Guernsey-registered music IP investment and song management company... and it just so happens that in October 2021 The Blackstone Group, an alternative investment management company, announced that it would invest $1bn US to acquire song catalogues and music rights. It also announced that Blackstone would take an ownership stake in Hipgnosis Song Management.

Anyone who's been paying attention knows where this is going...
 

In 2020 Blackstone [Tactical Opportunities] invested $275 million in CryoPort (CYRX), a cool-storage logistics company that has become front-and-center in the race to get Covid vaccines into human arms. And in November, Blackstone put some $2.3 billion into Precision Medicine Group, which runs late-stage trials and *coordinates drug-approval processes*.

Also: In August of 2020 Blackstone announced the appointment of Jeffrey B. Kindler, former Chairman and CEO of Pfizer...with a focus on Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Blackstone Growth.

Everything is connected, don't think this was just a big coincidence. They're all serving each other, not you.

[Automancc]

Don't like it, don't watch. Feelings can be hard sometimes

[conjnerc]

What's the beef? can u explain

[o__v__o]

Neil Young fell for a lie and instead of actually looking into it himself, he thought that — despite not even owning most of his catalogue, plus being a has-been — he could bully Spotify into censoring someone he's been told not to like.

He posted a letter on his site yesterday crying about "It's me or Rogan!" ... he later took the letter down, but as it turns out today Spotify chose Rogan.

Kinda makes you wonder why a guy known for his "powerful" protest music... didn't just write a "powerful" protest song... instead he tried leveraging is waning popularity and it backfired on him because his ego outweighs his talent and intelligence.

Rockin' in the free world - give me a break! Dude has always been a fraudulent grifter, who only cared about the power that comes with fame. Hopefully he's now realizing that he was only ever as "powerful" as he was useful to the system he was pretending to fight against... and they don't need him anymore.

[lindac528-usa]

Amen! Neil needs a reality check. His music is great. His opinions on things that he has no business citing as fact -- not so much!

[DiarmaLivious]

An artist of honour & integrity with 6 million monthly listeners, and an example of one song that has over 240 million hits, and yet enlightened you appreciates none of this marks you as a philistine - a pubescent American no doubt.

[Ismore]

You say you don't listen to Rogen, and you clearly don't like Neil Young, so I have to ask:  why do you care?
You say it's all a hoax, but Rogen really did have anti vaxxers on his show.
Neil Young has been consistent throughout his 50+ year career.  He has always stood for peace, justice, equality, and truth.  Rogen is just a comedian that doesn't seem to care how many people he hurts by spreading lies. 

[o__v__o]

"You say it's all a hoax, but Rogen really did have anti vaxxers on his show."

I said the letter that NY referenced was a hoax. Fewer than a 100 of the signatures were from doctors who practice medicine... some weren't even PhDs.. they're youtubers or dentists or consultants. It was designed for people like you and Neil to use as a talking point because they knew you wouldn't bother looking into it.

Sorry you were mislead... but at some point, I'd suggest taking some personal responsibility and actually *seeking* truth rather than having it spoon fed to you by the establishment.

Look at you: upset because people have the freedom to speak — you want them shut down because.... it scares you. Grow up. I'll say it again: if your boy Neil was such a great producer of powerful protest songs - why doesn't he just write a song and convince the world that he's right? Or was that all just fabricated nonsense to sell a product that has no value today?

Feel free to not listen to JR, I don't... but I don't want people censored because I don't like their guests... and certainly not because the people trying to censor them are uniformed crybabies who think they're somehow NOT foot soldiers of the establishment that has a long history of lying to the public (and using celebs to push their agenda.. while silencing anyone who's a threat to their monopoly on the flow of information).

Even if there really were actual anti-vaxxers on the show.. who cares? Do you demand other people wear seat belts so you don't get hurt in a car accident? Considering how misused that phrase has become, I'm not actually convinced there were any actual "anti-vaxxers" featured on his show. Vaxxed but against mandates are called "anti-vax"... same with vaxxed but not boosted.  4 doses still isn't enough to stop the spread, so... maybe the actual anti-science people are the ones who think they can outsmart evolution with the help of big pharma's tax-subsidized products. Perhaps nature is telling you something that you don't want to hear.

BTW: do you know whose profits have gone through the roof over the last 2 years? Certainly not the general population's. The problem isn't Joe Rogan... it's shame people like you aren't going to realize that until it's too late.

[dasratzel]

Keep up the good work Spotify by keeping ALL discussions open on this platform.

I had lingered for a long time as a free user to listen to podcasts.  But the moment I saw that you had refused to let one artist (Neil) try to cancel another artist (Joe), I immediately dropped my Pandora account in favor of a Premium account with you.

I don't agree with everything I hear on any of your podcasts.  But I love podcasts that engage both sides of issues.  And, I would pay 5x as much to make sure that the free exchange of ideas and open discussion remains free.  I'm proud to join you in that fight!

[Eric82930]

I agree 100% and will be subscribing just to support Spotify (even though I like having ads on the free version-effective advertising is important for capitalism). I love Neil but I can get him anywhere. Free speech and truth is hard to find these days. Thank you Spotify

[vaajy]

I subscribed to Spotify 09/21 I think much before this case was alive.

I have no plans to leave as I think free speech is good to have. You can be different with your opinion, but cancelling?

When you disagree is silly. It's same thing when I had a friend who always blocked me on his phone when he disagreed with me. I mean we can have different opinions and still be friends. I personally have no time to listen Rogan show and have no clue which one his opinion even is, but after this episode I will consider to listen few of his episodes for a dinner.

[Scaggnetti]

Enough is enough.  Free speech. We have a right to hear opposing arguments from doctors.  Cancel Joe over this I cancel my sub.  If Neal wants to cry like a baby and leave, let him.  I stand by Spotify and Joe Rogan. Stop these commi tactics and ignore the whinny complainer trolls.

[Havadrem]

I 100% agree. It's ironic that this controversy will only make Joe Rogan show more popular. Another case of getting caught in your own trap.

[GuessImKarenNow]

There is a massive difference between having opposing viewpoints and intentionally spreading deadly disinformation. This is not cancelling anything, and Spotify is not supporting free speech. In fact, they have removed over 20,000 other podcasts that spread harmful disinformation, but they won't touch Rogan in any way because they made an exclusive $100 mil deal. This was asking Spotify, a huge company with a large base of consumers, to stop investing in and endorsing the spread of outright lies. There are some really amazing nonpartisan podcasts that discuss social, political, and economic issues from opposing viewpoints while using actual facts: NPR; TIME; BBC; Left, Right, & Center; the Argument podcast; etc. I don't necessarily agree with everything I hear, but I get factual information to form my own opinion. I really encourage you to look into some of these podcasts if that's how you prefer your news!

[Rickylee]

Keep Joe and many more will leave, myself included...Dis-information is dangerous!!!

[dasratzel]

Thanks GuessImKarenNow.

I really do wish too that we could stop false information from entering conversations here and elsewhere.  But then, that kind of begs the question...

Doesn't the history of philosophy teach us that the whole point of public discourse is to sort out that very question...what is fact and what is not?  If we preemptively exclude any voice because some  authority figure has already defined what counts as true, then aren't we stepping backward culturally?  I thought this is what we used to hate religion for doing, appealing to authority.

I agree that there are many other podcasts.  I am currently listening to another podcast on Spotify that takes the time to make an argument point by point against some of the claims and ideas of Rogan's recent guests.  That is the kind of discourse that I appreciate.  Thoughtful and forceful argumentation.... not simply decrying him and begging Spotify to de-platform.  To me the latter is just tribal and lazy.   I don't think any podcast or news outlet can claim non partisan neutrality, but some seem to do better than others in this regard.

I guess the question is...  do we want a society where we trust people to sort these things out through free discourse.... or do we believe that we have a society that is too dumb/uneducated to be trusted with this, so we need to protect them from "dangerous ideas"?

Thoughts?

[Cancel-Joe-Rogan]

Good. 🤣

[Cancel-Joe-Rogan]

Great! 👍

[Goathill]

Free speech, something Neil Young, hypocrite only wants if he agrees with it.  Lynyrd Skynyrd had it right, we don't need Neil Young around anyhow.