SPOTIFY ’ S
BUSINESS MODEL Screws Over Musicians
AND RUINS MUSIC
by Sonali Kolhatkar
Neil Young ’ s recent decision to pull his music from Spotify , the world ’ s largest streaming service , has shaken up the music industry and sparked broader questions about how streaming services operate . Young demanded that the company choose between his music or Joe Rogan ’ s misinformation-laden podcast . Spotify chose Rogan .
This ought not to surprise anyone . In 2020 , the company entered into an exclusive and lucrative $ 100 million contract with Rogan and his library of more than a decade of podcast episodes . Rogan recently interviewed anti-vaccine activist Robert Malone — a man who was banned from Twitter for violating its guidelines on COVID-19 misinformation . The interview was so controversial that even YouTube banned it . Still , Spotify chose Rogan over Young . And over Joni Mitchell , India Arie , and even Crosby , Stills , and Nash , who followed suit in pulling their music . It did so because the bottom line for the company is preserving its profits , and it appears to see Rogan ’ s show as more financially valuable than the entire catalogs of legendary musicians .
Further , Spotify , like Amazon , played the long game , absorbing losses as only big companies can , in order to finally start turning a profit years later . In fact , Spotify was projected to become profitable this year .
And , just as Amazon gobbled up its competition in order to become profitable , Spotify dominated the industry by offering a cheap subscription service to listeners , forcing its competitors who were selling downloads to do the same . The result has been disastrous for creators and consumers of music .
“ What they ’ re doing always comes down to profits ,” says Zack Nestel-Patt , an organizer with the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers ( UMAW ).
Unlike Young , Arie , and other major artists , who can rely on other streaming services such as Apple Music to disseminate their work , millions of independent musicians around the world have far less leverage .
While Spotify and Rogan responded to Young ’ s accusations saying they would try to do better , Nestel-Patt is unimpressed , “ because of how little it affects the musicians , especially the working-class musicians struggling at the bottom of the Spotify ecosystem .” While he applauds Young and his allies for taking on Spotify over misinformation and
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