The Real Reason Spotify Can’t Afford to Lose the Rogan Battle – Opinion

Legacy artists are continuing to mount pressure on Spotify to remove their star podcaster, Joe Rogan, over “misinformation” and other vague transgressions. Rogan’s refusal to conform to the narrow box of their boomer generation is probably the most serious transgression.

It was at first funny for Neil Young to think he could have any influence over the best podcaster in the country. They paid close to $100 million for exclusive rights to the program. It has become increasingly concerning as others such as Barbara Streisand and Joni Mitchell have joined in threatening to pull their music over Rogan’s freedom of speech.

It seems that Rogan and Spotify still enjoy the advantage from my perspective. The Boomer Brigade may not be aware of the extent of the stakes. Spotify must defend their rights to music that is valuable, even if they face losing the right to do so.

Spotify can be described as a cross between two rocks.
Musicians who don’t listen to their instincts will lose it.
They will be under constant pressure to cancel artist who they don’t like.
What can they do to help them?

— Sharyl Attkisson🕵️‍♂️ (@SharylAttkisson) February 4, 2022

Spotify had long ago decided that it wanted to be the best platform for podcasting. The pair decided to challenge Apple, who is the creator of podcasting. They have continued making moves since. Rogan is their most lucrative investment, but they’ve also been quietly cutting million dollar deals with other popular podcasters you’ve probably never even heard of. Podcasts such as RewatchablesAndLast podcast on the leftThey have been a huge success in moving their content to Spotify. Spotify’s user interface is much easier to use and navigate and it doesn’t require Apple products for optimal functionality. The team is well on the way to achieving their goals, so they were happy spending $100 million for a single podcast.

Consider what would happen if Rogan falls for them. Is it over?

No. It is not possible to be progressive without being good. Apologies require more excuses; capitulating requires even more, and so forth. On the left, there is no redemption, only a constant churning of penance, punishment, and proving one’s progressivism. Wash, rinse, repeat. If the Boomer Brigade succeeds in ousting Rogan, they will turn their attention to the myriad of other performers on the site who don’t toe the Branch Covidian line…and there are hundreds, maybe even thousands. This includes my.

Spotify cannot pursue their goal of owning the podcast market without podcasts, and they can’t entice new and lucrative podcasters when they can’t even guarantee that they will stand up for those podcasters against cancel culture.

Spotify and the other streaming services take the royalty and profit of artists featured in their streams, to be fair to the Boomer Brigade. The pay system is outrageously inequitable. Even the most well-known artists make a mere percentage point of pennies per stream. It is a suspect system that rewards the corporate creators and penalizes the creators. That’s been a problem in the music industry since the beginning, but it’s been exacerbated by the streaming revolution.

They may be simply trying to find a reason for their songs to go on Spotify. Perhaps they are just taking advantage of the Rogan issue to release themselves from their contracts, something they’ve longed to do for a while. It wouldn’t be surprising and frankly, it wouldn’t even be unfair. It is also a loss for them. We should hold a public discussion about the plight of artists and musicians on streaming platforms in the future.

Spotify has the advantage in Rogan’s case. They and their bank accounts will decide how long they are able to withstand the pressure. They seem to have lost sight of the original business plan. It seems that not many Boomer Brigade members are able decide whether music is streaming to Spotify. And even less actually want Spotify.

It’s an exciting time. While I’m not a fan of Spotify’s treatment of music rights and royalties, I am a huge fan of their podcasting side, and I sincerely hope they continue to stand by Rogan and all of us.