Neil Young (left) and Joe Rogan
This morning.
Via Finn McRedmond The Irish Times:
It is easy to characterise this as a row between Young and Rogan; one enlightened by science and the other clouded by ill-judged vaccine hesitancy; liberal righteousness and reactionary malevolence….
…The tech behemoth is too powerful and perhaps the temptation to give in to exposure and profit simply too great for any normal recording artist to eschew….
…So perhaps there is a lot to thank for the Old Guard like Neil Young – recently joined in boycott by Joni Mitchell – for making a gesture (or perhaps the idea of the principled, political artist is ceding ground to the darlings of the streaming universe – Adele, Swift, Drake).
But Mitchell and Young don’t need Spotify. At the ends of their careers, they hardly require the fame it might bestow upon them; and the pair’s older audiences are much less likely to rely on streaming in the first instance. Young sold about half of his catalogue last year for a non-trivial amount of money too. It’s a lot easier to have principles when there is not that much at stake.
It might not be a lot but, in a world dominated by youth and hyper-fixated on finding the newest, shiniest artist to line the pockets of Spotify, it is at least reassuring to see Young in possession of his protesting instincts that came to characterise his earlier career. It is a dimension largely absent from the contemporary pop music scene and perhaps we are worse off for it…
Finn McRedmond: Spotify has chokehold on music industry
Meanwhile…
“Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters” by Arthur Lizie
Oh.
Getty
Previously: Heart Of Gold
