‘Totally misleading propaganda’: Story condemned for saying Spotify lost more than $2 billion after Neil Young removed

Variety, an entrainment news outlet, was promptly bashed for promoting “misleading propaganda” after claiming Spotify lost more than $2 billion in market value following the removal of Neil Young’s music.

Spotify dropped Young’s music from its platform after he issued the streaming service an ultimatum. Young said that Spotify “can have Rogan or Young … not both.” Spotify ultimately chose Rogan.

On Saturday, Variety published a story with a headline that read, “Spotify Lost More Than $2 Billion in Market Value After Neil Young Pulled His Music Over Joe Rogan’s Podcast.”

“Spotify’s market capitalization fell about $2.1 billion over a three-day span this week, coming after folk rocker Neil Young yanked his songs from the audio-streaming giant to protest Joe Rogan’s misinformation-spreading podcast,” the story explained.

The news outlet was sharply criticized for the framing of its story because the headline suggested that Young’s removal from Spotify was the reason for a loss in Spotify’s market value. But as the article explained, Spotify had been hemorrhaging market value for months before the controversy with Rogan, and its value actually rose one day before the story was published.- READ MORE