Neil Young/Spotify

"Neil Young Wants His Music Off Spotify Over Joe Rogan Vaccine Misinformation - 'They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.'": https://bit.ly/3Ar5j2p

What I hate about anti-vaxxers is they don't know how to use Google.

Today two guys sent me e-mail about Alex Berenson, how he's providing excellent data, he's the authority.

If you Google Mr. Berenson, you'll find out that he's been banned from Twitter for Covid misinformation and is constantly on Fox spewing falsehoods.

Check it out:

"Twitter Bans Conservative author Alex Berenson": https://bit.ly/3FXE9Bl

And:

"The Pandemic's Wrongest Man - In a crowded field of wrongness, one person stands out: Alex Berenson.": https://bit.ly/3u0Grx8

Read the "Atlantic" article, the second one above. This isn't opinion, this is FACT!

If you're doing your own research you've got to use Google or Bing or even DuckDuckGo, your search engine of choice. And the very first article that comes up on Google, the very first hit, is the "Atlantic" article.

This happens each and every day. I've got some ignorant doofus who e-mails me this garbage each and every day. All you have to do is Google and you'll find out the site is notoriously biased and untrustworthy. You don't have to dig deep, you barely have to dig at all.

But these anti-vaxxers don't. So the truth is they really aren't doing any research whatsoever, they just don't want to get the shot and they're looking for articles that support their position.

Now the fact is Joe Rogan reaches more people than any cable news outlet, even Fox. Funny that it takes a rock star to shine a light on this.

As for music, read this article from the BBC:

"More and more musicians are releasing their own music: Here's why": https://bbc.in/3nUS9FA

Bottom line? Today songs break on TikTok, and the truth is the major labels have almost no power on the platform. It's owned by its users and the creators who provide the content. And I hate to tell you, these TikTokkers are not listening to terrestrial radio, and they're not watching late night TV, the major labels' power has been diminished by change in the marketplace. But they don't want you to know this.

It's all about ignorance and obfuscation if oldsters are in charge ad there's money involved. If you think the head of any record label knows how to make and post a TikTok video you're just plain wrong, there's a very good chance they've never even visited the platform. Youngsters have all the time in the world, and they're willing to work 'round the clock in the pursuit of their goal. Suits are into lifestyle, acquisition, clothing, when in truth all you need to post content on TikTok is a smartphone.

I'm not saying that Rogan's reach is a good thing, it's just THE THING!

The labels couldn't truly make the switch to the modern era and nor could traditional media. And I'm betting against Meta/Facebook in the metaverse, because once everybody knows about the new paradigm the established players usually don't win in the transition.

So Joe Rogan gets his popularity from being the voice of the UFC. Hell, boomers refuse to watch it, to them boxing is still king, they remember Muhammad Ali. But today boxing means nothing, except if the match features social media star Jake Paul.

You see the social media stars know how to tell a story, it's all about presentation, whereas journalists employ some of the most boring writing ever. It's all formula. Young people don't even bother to read the paper, and they never will. They're going to be reached another way.

And we live in the era of the cult of personality. Newspapers are faceless. They should build up their stars and promote them to compete with the online kings and queens. But the papers are so busy being egalitarian, keeping everybody equal, that they take themselves out of the equation. Cable news figured this out, it's all about stars, whether it be Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow.

I'm not saying the papers are not the source of facts. It's just that most people don't get the news from said papers. That's right, when it comes to news print is king. Supersedes everything else. TV has got very few reporters, what you see on screen is just about all they've got, they take their lead from the Big Three: "The New York Times," "The Washington Post" and "The Wall Street Journal." It's all top-down in an era where it's all bottom up.

Yes, you start at the bottom these days, you build your own audience. Don't think about world domination, don't even try to get a deal, just do the work yourself, you have to gather your tribe, and it's the hardest thing to do.

And the people spewing these falsehoods online have been building their audiences for eons, and now they're dominant.

So Neil Young takes a stand. After a slew of doctors took a stand last week. Will Rogan go?

Well, the doctors' blowback was circulated only amongst those with the same take, that Rogan is a fount of misinformation and must go.

But now we've got rock god Neil Young!

Neil Young's new album was featured in every dead tree outlet known to man, and a ton of online ones too. He's back with Crazy Horse, the reviews say it's a return to form.

But it's already gone, nobody cares, there's no action whatsoever.

At this point only ONE song on the album has over a million streams on Spotify. Seven of the remaining nine don't even break four hundred thousand! I don't think Neil can even treat his team to lunch on this payout.

You see Neil Young no longer counts. He's old. He's history.

But it's not only him, it's all the old acts. Not only classic rockers but MTV stars too. Do you know how many years, DECADES!, it's been since their heyday? Young's comeback, playing on stage at the VMAs with Pearl Jam, was in 1993...TWENTY NINE YEARS AGO!

Neil's got four tracks with triple-digit million streams on Spotify, but Fleetwood Mac has many more. Yes, even in the classic rock world Neil Young is not burning up Spotify.

This is no judgment of Mr. Young's music, not whatsoever, but the truth is Spotify could can all of his music, take it down like he wants, and the streaming platform wouldn't be hurt economically at all.

No, the only way you hurt Spotify is to get all the rest of the acts on board. But this is where they make their money, so they're loath to unite in the cause, and some of them are right wing anti-vaxxers anyway.

Which brings us to the strange case of Interscope Records. Burning up the charts with Dr. Dre and his proteges, the blowback was so bad that Warner Brothers decided the label had to go. So, it gave Interscope its freedom and then it was subsumed into the Universal group, the worst of the major labels, and now Universal has 40% market share, dominates.

So, could the same thing happen to Spotify?

Now I don't expect Amazon or Apple will pick up Rogan exclusively for a big check, then again, Apple hosted Rogan's podcast before Joe made an exclusive deal with Spotify.

Can Joe Rogan be killed? Metaphorically, I mean.

Well, in truth you can do it alone, unfettered, and make MORE money. Yes, most analysts felt that Rogan left money on the table when he made his exclusive deal with Spotify. So Rogan wins no matter what.

Then again, if Rogan isn't on all the readily available platforms, then what?

Well, OAN is being killed by the cable companies, it's being squeezed off their systems, which say it's a cost-cutting measure. Who knows the real motivation, but this right wing bloviating nonsense provider has been hindered in its reach.

Just like Trump being off Twitter.

Then there's the story of David Geffen and Geto Boys. He didn't want them on the label, he let them go and they had no success. Then again, Geto Boys wasn't a household name when the act was signed to Geffen. But David said my label, my choice, and acted. But not only is Spotify not independent like Geffen at the time, but it's publicly traded... What's best for its bottom line?

Then again, corporations can be swayed by public blowback, which is what happened with Warner and Interscope.

Then it comes down to the old issue facing Facebook and other legacy companies, are they tech platforms or publishers/media companies? In other words, are they responsible for the content on their sites? They don't want to be, which is why they keep saying they're just tech platforms.

And we can try and thread the needle, but what are we going to do about all this misinformation and the death of democracy, just stay silent as the edifice crumbles? Mitch McConnell changes tack on a whim, no new Supreme Court Justice in the last year of Obama's term, wait for the election, but he lets Trump install a new Justice just days before the 2020 election. Sure, there are rules, but they appear to be malleable.

Spotify already tried to crack down on hip-hop lyrics and then pulled back. But this is just one guy.

Then again, there are other people on the platform spewing misinformation, albeit with fewer fans, but do they have to go too?

And then you've got Aaron Rodgers, who lied about being vaccinated, said he was "immunized," whatever that means, got Covid, missed play, and now says he doesn't believe Biden is the legitimate president. This is the guy who says he was cured by Joe Rogan. Yup, if you've got medical issues don't call your doctor, but JOE ROGAN!

So it's Spotify's choice. Neil Young means nothing to them. The only way to get to Spotify to take action is to make more noise.

But Spotify does have power. Look, Alex Jones's reach has been neutered to a great degree. Distribution is king and if you don't have it you're in trouble.

Used to be the sweet science known as boxing was the realm of gangsters, not to be trusted, fights were fixed, it was a lowest common denominator enterprise. The UFC is barely better than the WWE. Well, it's not that bad, but it's based on physicality, not intellect, and the bozo embedded in this sport of mutilation is who the youngsters listen to, where they get their information.

This is a problem. Neil Young is right. If you want change, you've got to join him. If every classic rock act threatened to pull their music from Spotify, believe me they'd can Rogan. Because if every classic rock act goes, the audience will be pissed, and will go to Apple or Amazon and subscriber acquisition is the biggest hurdle in building your business.

Maybe it's not about Joe Rogan, maybe it's just about misinformation. Twitter has got its three strikes rule, why can't Spotify have the same thing?

Neil Young lit a match, will it turn into a fire?

It depends on you.


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