Spotify Against the World in the Non-Free Speech Era

Op-Ed: The clickbait around this story is plain dumb.

As the “freedom convoy” in Canada was approaching Canada’s Capital in a spirit of celebration to protest the Covid-19 lockdowns, another battle was taking place in the Metaverse.

Celebrities were calling out Spotify that doesn’t regulate Joe Rogan’s Podcast where it is said serious misinformation is spread at scale. Spotify has a growing list of critics this week as Harry and Meghan reveal Spotify Covid row concerns.

Oh No, not the Royals! The couple said they were "committed to continuing" a content deal worth an estimated $25m (£18m) and will continue to lobby Spotify bosses for changes. Joining the list is Joni Mitchell, dear friend to Neil Young, whose ultimatum didn’t do very much.

The fight for Free Speech is very tricky in the Metaverse it seems. Podcasting at scale is relatively new in the Creator Economy. Joe Rogan is Spotify’s big draw star. Neil Young had called on other artists to support him after he severed ties with Spotify over COVID misinformation. Is the world locking down Free Speech as well on the internet at the onset of the Metaverse?

Now Meghan Markle, what are we doing to do about this? Joni Mitchell said Friday she is seeking to remove all of her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, who ignited a protest against the streaming service for airing a podcast that featured a figure who has spread misinformation about the coronavirus.

The celebrities are protesting, what are we doing to do? Meanwhile countries like the U.K. and America have so little regulation vs. the spread of B.A. 2 it almost seems ridiculous (to other countries who care more about their healthcare systems). Their daily death totals are whitewashed by severely maligned and dysfunctional political systems.

Major streamers on Spotify are not saying anything because this is their Cash Cow. Justin Bieber becomes the first artist with 10 tracks with over a billion Spotify streams.

These songs smashed the records and music streaming is now in 2022 a big deal, even over Free Speech and the political spectrum of the regulation of misinformation. For years Meta and Google were and still are doing a poor job at regulation of Misinformation (fake accounts, spam, etc…), and now we are picking on little Spotify?

Neil Young posted a since-deleted letter to his management team and record label demanding that they remove his music from Spotify. I find the entire story over the regulation of Free Speech at the start of the Metaverse more than a bit terrifying.

Sure we get it. Lockdowns have caused mental health and economic anguish, even as Omicron is not killing many more people than the seasonal Flu. It’s led to suicides, however without these restrictions our healthcare systems would have failed long ago. Misinformation has already warped the world, including increasing censorship online. How very convenient!

Mitchell, who like Young is a Canadian-born songwriter who rose to acclaim in the folk-rock scene in the late 1960s and 1970s, is the first prominent musician to join Young's effort. That was until Harry and Meghan came out of the closet. The rebel royals, that’s right.

Spotify is a Microcosm of the Fight over Free Speech on the Internet

How did Spotify get itself in this bind? It’s deal with Joe Rogan is said to be in the neighborhood of $100 million. He has around an 11 million audience, that’s pretty good bang for the buck that has made Spotify mainstream in podcasting.

With Justin Bieber becoming the first artist with 10 tracks with over a billion Spotify streams, Spotify’s scale is damn impressive. Joe Rogan’s choice of guests on his show is his choice. There’s plenty of misinformation online and everywhere else, people have serious pandemic fatigue and even healthcare works and Doctors themselves have posted ridiculous things online.

The algorithmic internet that rewards sentiment amplification does reward controversial content as Donald Trump and others have figured out. People like to gossip, misinformation is great for word-of-mouth marketing. Echo bubbles are everywhere, I’m just not sure Joe Rogan’s audience is one of them.

Celebrities like to pull their weight and think they are having an impact on our mindshare or being a good citizens for the future of the world. Politics at the intersection of a sentiment amplified and social amplification of a meme and clickbait based internet is messy in a fleeting attention economy.

Spotify can benefit from the publicity, it’s not a PR disaster as some are suggesting. Free Speech is an American value and the U.S. have already been a disaster at managing the pandemic at nearly every level.

Going after Spotify now does nothing to change the record and get back the staggering number of deaths in America by Covid-19. Omicron BA.2 is 1.5 times more contagious, it will create a significant Spring wave. America will fail in managing it because America’s internet is toxic causing civil unrest at scale.

Spotify is a quality platform promoting the Creator Economy or some inkling of it with podcating and streamers. With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence. But going after the Cult personalities of the Metaverse is not going to change the world. Joe Rogan is awesome though he may not be the brightest pigeon at the town square. It’s all good, free speech must prevail.

If you enjoy my articles here you may enjoy my content around Web 3.0 and the cryptocurreny universe at the intersection of the Metaverse.