Letters to the Editor: Neil Young put his money where his mouth is. Spotify did not
To the editor: Regarding Neil Young leaving Spotify because Spotify couldn’t or wouldn’t stop hosting Joe Rogan’s anti-vaccine podcast, Young took a stand and put his money where his mouth was. Spotify did not.
I hope more artists join Young (and Joni Mitchell) and that Spotify feels the squeeze. If people can take a stand against insanity, so can corporations.
Spotify can decide if it wants to be the go-to music platform or the crazy-town podcast platform. People (Young, Mitchell, you, me) who care will take notice and put their money where their mouths are.
Sue Raymond, Montrose
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To the editor: The last line of Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s op-ed article on the Spotify-Young flap is, “Sounds right on brand for both” — Young going for integrity, and Spotify gong for the money and disguising its decision as defending free speech.
Greenburg suggests that Young’s stand is not of value because Young is so wealthy that the money lost from Spotify wouldn’t personally hurt him.
Rogan has a giant platform just by the fact he is on the air. He has no expertise and can just put forth anything, and Spotify can watch the money roll in. At the bottom of this barrel is pure greed. We’ll set aside real facts, integrity and even common sense for the next buck.
Young’s stand is not to be devalued but hopefully admired, followed and amplified.
I am so weary of the greed that demands that some have the right to say or do anything they want regardless of how harmful it is to others. It seems common sense and common decency are becoming rarities.
Jodi Miles, Santa Barbara
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To the editor: I tune into Rogan’s podcast from time to time — whenever I feel the need to hear someone drop the F-bomb 65 times in four minutes.
Rogan has been accused of spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, but people don’t complain about him constantly uttering the F-word. Remove that word from his vocabulary, and he would be incoherent.
I am the last person in the world to accuse someone of foul language, but with Rogan it seems forced, gratuitous and a distraction. His is an interview-type show, so rule No. 1 is get to the point. Is this more easily done with all those F-bombs?
Is this why Spotify laid $100 million on him?
Jack Spiegelman, Los Angeles
