India.Arie is removing her music and podcast from Spotify, in solidarity with Neil Young who requested for the streaming service to do the same thing last week.
Young’s decision to remove his catalog was to protest podcast host Joe Rogan, who he believes has been spreading misinformation about coronavirus and vaccines on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Arie released a statement on Monday evening, citing that in addition to Rogan’s coronavirus comments, she has also been displeased by his “language around race.”
“I have decided to pull my music and podcast from Spotify,” said Arie, who currently has 1.3 million monthly listeners on the streaming service.
“Neil Young opened a door that I must walk through. I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons other than his Covid interviews. For me, it’s also his language around race.”
She added, “What I am talking about is respect – who gets it and who doesn’t. Paying musicians a fraction of a penny? And him $100M? This shows the type of company they are and the company that they keep. I’m tired.”
A spokesperson for Arie confirmed to Rated R&B that the singer has already filed official requests to have her music taken down.
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Arie’s statement also follows a series of tweets on Saturday with the #DeleteSpotify hashtag. In one post, she wrote, “The music industry is abusive. sexist. racist. agesit ~ AMPLIFIED and UNCHECKED. THIS is not an opinion. THIS IS WISDOM. this streaming model is but ONE area that needs to be torn down amd rebuilt with RESPECT for the artists AT THE FORE! #DeleteSpotify.”
CLARITY: The music industry is abusive. sexist. racist. agesit ~ AMPLIFIED and UNCHECKED. THIS is not an opinion. THIS IS WISDOM. this streaming model is but ONE area that needs to be torn down amd rebuilt with RESPECT for the artists AT THE FORE! #DeleteSpotify
— India.Arie (@indiaarie) January 29, 2022
GOOD OL TWITTER: CLARITY: I know WHY @Neilyoung “did it” I READ THE NEWS TOO. 🙄 MY point is : it still comes down to artists not being respected. Many stay silent out of fear But MANY of us especially black musicians arent respscted ANYWAY. #wisdom speaking up. FEELS BETTER.
— India.Arie (@indiaarie) January 29, 2022
Last Wednesday (Jan. 26), Young announced via his official website that he was pulling his music from the streaming service. “Spotify has become the home of life threatening COVID misinformation,” he wrote in his open letter.
Since Young’s announcement, other acts such as Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren have joined him in removing their music.
On Sunday (Jan. 30), Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek released a statement outlining the company’s new rules and approach to COVID-19.
“We have had rules in place for many years but admittedly, we haven’t been transparent around the policies that guide our content more broadly. This, in turn, led to questions around their application to serious issues including COVID-19,” he shared.
“Based on the feedback over the last several weeks, it’s become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time.”
One of the new steps Spotify is taking to is adding “a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19.”
According to Variety, Spotify lost more than $2 billion in market value in just three days.
