I'll admit that I've always felt a great deal of gratitude to rocker Neil Young. Not because I've been inspired by his music, but because his insolence and hatred of the American South, specifically Alabama, provided inspiration for one of the greatest classic rock songs of all time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's hit song "Sweet Home Alabama" even includes homage to Young's role:
I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around anyhow.
As it turned out, Young actually apologized for his treatment of his own countrymen in the South in his 2012 biography Waging Heavy Peace. He admitted, "‘Alabama' richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record."
While a nice gesture, it doesn't really seem like Young learned his lesson about political engagement. In January of 2022, Young overplayed his hand. Dramatically. And it's come back to bite him again.
As Not the Bee reported (and laughed at hysterically) at the time, Young made a desperate play in early 2022 to get his name in the headlines. To be fair, it's what fading rockers desirous of influence do. They take some profound stand that will earn them an immediate, if fleeting, surge of attention. For Young, this meant taking a hardline stance in favor of Covid-19 vaccines.
Specifically, he was angry that the country's most listened-to podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience," was spouting so much "Covid misinformation." So upset was Young, that he demanded that the streaming music giant Spotify end their partnership with Rogan. Unsurprisingly, Spotify didn't comply, prompting Young to issue an ultimatum. Spotify could have Young or they could have Rogan, but not both.
Young received Spotify's answer on January 26th, when the platform removed all of Young's songs.
The move was a short-term boon for Young as sympathetic, pro-Covid media touted his courage. And had it been someone extraordinarily popular like Taylor Swift or Drake, maybe it would have sparked some kind of movement. But no one joined the Neil Young exodus, and the only one who ended up suffering any consequence was Young himself.
- Downloads cratered.
- Sales dropped.
- Name recognition plummeted.
And as for Rogan? Spotify just inked him to a brand new $250 million deal to stay on their platform.
But unlike the mea culpa he once offered, albeit reluctantly, to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the good people of Alabama, Young's white flag announcement was anything but penitent.
"My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at SPOTIFY," he continued, referring to his stance against The Joe Rogan Experience and its dissemination of false information about COVID-19 that led him to remove his music from the streamer originally.
"I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did with Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all," Young wrote. "So I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it."
You got it, Spotify? You're darn lucky that Apple and Amazon screwed up too, otherwise you wouldn't be so fortunate. Moreover, you should be thanking God that Neil is willing to grace your outlet with his music, despite the poor sound quality you offer. The man doesn't struggle when it comes to his sense of self-importance.
My take on all this is pretty simple.
Personally, I hope Neil Young will remember that a streaming man don't need him around anyhow.
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