Neil Young: "Rogan or me."

[Doctor Phibes]

LOL. I missed it when they left, but it looks like they're back

America's long national nightmare is over

[Mik]

And they'll donate the money they are making again to charity... for at least a month. A whole month. That is SO white of them.

[George K]

Neil Young Will Return to Spotify, Ending Protest of Joe Rogan

Neil Young will return his music to Spotify, two years after withdrawing it in protest over the podcast host Joe Rogan’s shows about Covid-19, the veteran rock musician announced on his website Tuesday.

Without naming Rogan, Young wrote: “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify.” Rogan previously had an exclusive deal with Spotify, which has since been renewed to allow wider distribution of his show.

IOW, "My principles apply to Spotify, but since Apple and Amazon are doing it too, I guess I'll cave."

And this:

Last year, in an analysis of how Young’s streaming activity had changed since withdrawing his music from Spotify, Billboard estimated that the protest had cost him about $16,000 in royalties per month.

[89th]

Guess the dollar wins out over his principles.

[Aqua Letifer]

@89th said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

Guess the dollar wins out over his principles.

I seriously doubt he cares about the money.

[Jolly]

Money talks, bullshit walks.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Jolly said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

Money talks, bullshit walks.

He makes millions a year outside of Spotify. The 16k a month is a drop in the bucket for him.

[George K]

@Aqua-Letifer said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

@Jolly said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

Money talks, bullshit walks.

He makes millions a year outside of Spotify. The 16k a month is a drop in the bucket for him.

I suspect you're right.

So, why the return? What's changed?

[Jolly]

@Aqua-Letifer said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

@Jolly said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

Money talks, bullshit walks.

He makes millions a year outside of Spotify. The 16k a month is a drop in the bucket for him.

But what does he spend on his lifestyle?

[Aqua Letifer]

@Jolly said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

@Aqua-Letifer said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

@Jolly said in Neil Young: "Rogan or me.":

Money talks, bullshit walks.

He makes millions a year outside of Spotify. The 16k a month is a drop in the bucket for him.

But what does he spend on his lifestyle?

Yours and George's questions are good ones, but I don't think he's at a level where the 16k monthly would move the needle.

[Mik]

I think I see the turnaround.

Music Catalog Sale
In January 2021, Neil revealed that he had sold a 50% stake in his music catalog for $150 million. He sold half the copyright and income to roughly 1,120 songs to an investment firm called Hipgnosis.

Spotify Joe Rogan Feud
In January 2022, Neil posted a letter to social media and his website in which he gave >Spotify an ultimatum in which they either remove his music OR remove Joe Rogan's podcast. He made the demand because he believes Rogan's show spreads vaccine misinformation that leads to preventable deaths. In the end, Spotfiy chose not to remove Rogan's podcast and therefore Neil made good on his threat.

Interestingly, at the time of the threat Neil didn't actually own his master recordings – the right that gives someone the ability to decide where music is licensed (for example, on Spotify). Warner Music owns his masters and essentially did him a favor by forcing Spotify to take the music offline. The real loser in this decision is Hipgnosis which, as we just mentioned, had just paid $150 million for 50% of his royalty stream. Royalty streams are generated on platforms like Spotify.

https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/rock-stars/neil-young-net-worth/