Spotify’s market capitalization fell about $2.1 billion over a three-day span this week, coming after folk rocker Neil Young yanked his songs from the audio-streaming giant to protest Joe Rogan’s misinformation-spreading podcast.
Spotify shares fell 6.6% between Jan. 26 and 28. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite Index rose 1.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%.
Young had announced Wednesday that he wanted the company to stop publishing his music. “Spotify has recently become a very damaging force via its public misinformation and lies about COVID.” He didn’t cite Rogan by name, but referred to an open letter from doctors and health professionals issued earlier this month calling on Spotify to crack down on coronavirus-related falsehoods on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
To be sure, Spotify’s stock price was already on the slide — having plummeted 25% year-to-date as of Jan. 25, the day before Young’s catalog was pulled off Spotify. Investors have been rattled by signals that Spotify’s growth may be slowing, particularly after Netflix’s warning of a significant cooldown in first quarter subscriber net adds (which precipitated a 24% drop in its share price).
Also, it’s worth noting is that Spotify’s stock rebounded slightly Friday, closing up 1% to $172.98/share, amid a broader market upturn. This was however before Joni Mitchell announced she would be removing all her music from Spotify. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue,”The song was written by the singer-songwriter.
Spotify investors worry that the artist exodus will escalate and cause a significant number of customer cancellations. Hashtags #CancelSpotify, #DeleteSpotify and #ByeSpotify were trending on social media in the wake of Young’s ultimatum and Spotify’s decision to remove his music.
Rogan, whose exclusive multiyear distribution deal with Spotify for his podcast is estimated to be worth more than $100 million, hosted the No. According to Spotify, Rogan was the No. 1 podcast listened to on Spotify in 2021. His flirtation with alt-right figures and his anti-vax and anti-masking commentary has previously drawn fire from critics — including Dr. Anthony Fauci — but the controversy over Rogan has blown up to a new level with Neil Young’s protest.
Young on Friday doubled down on his anti-Spotify stance, slamming the streamer’s audio quality as “shitty, degraded and neutered”Amazon Music Unlimited announces a partnership, giving customers four months of free premium streaming.
A New York Times piece last July, titled “Joe Rogan Is Too Big to Cancel,”This detail was included: “[A]mong top Spotify leadership, people familiar with the company say, the notion that Mr. Rogan presents any kind of regrettable executive headache is laughable.”
One wonders if Spotify executives are still laughing about the idea that Rogan is more of an asset than a liability at this point. After market close, the company will release Q4 2021 earnings on February 2, 2019.