On Saturday afternoon, legendary country musician Johnny Cash’s daughter, Rosanne Cash, weighed in on Neil Young’s exit from streaming service Spotify.
Rosanne is the daughter of “The Man in Black” and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin. She’s Cash’s eldest daughter who followed in her father’s footsteps. Rosanne has carved out a successful career in the music industry since first releasing her own music in the 1980s.
For years now, Cash has charted No. 1 country singles among other crossovers including folk, pop, rock, blues, and Americana. In fact, 11 of her hits climbed to the top of the charts. She’s also been nominated for 12 Grammy awards and won one for 1985’s “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me.” So she knows the ins and outs of the music industry well.
Following the recent news about Neil Young requesting that his music be taken off of Spotify, many have chimed in about the matter. Young disagrees with comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan who the musician says is a source of “misinformation.” Spotify is the exclusive home of Rogan’s wildly popular podcast. Young gave Spotify the choice, “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” he wrote earlier this week.
Rosanne Cash reposted a link to a Fortune article about Young’s request. She then added her thoughts on the situation. The singer somewhat agrees with Young’s assessment of Rogan. Yet she also called the 76-year-old “righteous” and said it’s not as easy for most artists to remove their music from the streaming service.
“Not every artist can remove music from a streaming platform at will. You have to be the sole rights holder to make a unilateral decision. Rogan is dangerous, Neil is righteous, but it’s not as simple as ‘take it down’ for many,” Cash said on Twitter of Neil Young’s Spotify ultimatum.
Spotify Obliges, Removes Neil Young’s Music From Streaming
Per Neil Young’s request, Spotify did indeed choose one or the other. The streaming service unsurprisingly stuck by Joe Rogan and his podcast. The company bought the exclusive rights to Rogan’s podcast for $100 million in 2020.
In recent history, Rogan has made various statements about the Covid-19 vaccine that many consider misinformed. Neil Young didn’t agree with Rogan’s stances on that and various other topics, and took a stance of his own.
“Please immediately inform Spotify that I am actively canceling all my music availability on Spotify as soon as possible,” Young wrote to Spotify. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.”
“Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule,” his statement continued. “I want you to let Spotify know immediately today that I want all of my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Spotify met Neil Young’s request and did remove his music from their platform. In a statement, the company addressed the issue and shared that they’ve taken down more than 20,000 podcasts related to Covid-19 that contained misinformation. They also shared hopes that Young will one day return to the streaming service.
“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” Spotify’s statement reads.
