Spotify’s market value drops by $4 billion as Joni Mitchell bails and #CancelSpotify trends online

Spotify have not ceased to be at the headlines of rock and metal news for quite a while, especially following the Neil Young controversy.

Timeless singer/songwriter Neil Young demanded his music be taken off the streaming giant’s platform rather than share a platform with podcaster Joe Rogan’s “COVID misinformation”. Spotify subsequently removed Young’s music, prompting Disturbed’s David Draiman and Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta to publicly agree with the service and oldies metal singer Sebastian Bach to call both of them out online. But now, as folk musician Joni Mitchell offers solidarity with Young by removing her catalog from Spotify and the hashtags #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify trend online, the movement took on a more serious tone, altering the online service’s value to the likes of US$4 billion.

According to Forbes, Spotify’s investors are becoming increasingly worried about the service’s standings amidst the Neil Young controversy. Since the beginning of 2022, Spotify’s stock has dropped in value by 25%, costing the streaming service the aforementioned $4 billion loss.

The fact that others are joining Neil Young in his campaign certainly don’t make the company’s investors feel very safe. As Ultimate Classic Rock reports, the hashtags #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify are currently trending on Twitter.

I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.

I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.

Joni Mitchell, via her website.

Despite the dramatic bickering, it’s definitely been a long time coming. Given how huge Spotify has become, the fact that it pays musicians so little (ingoring complaints and demands to change this, and even attempting to lower the amount musicians get paid as of last year) and provides a platform for so many questionable artists and personalities was inevitably going to become a problem. According to NPR, it took the 2017 white power march in Charlottesville to get Spotify to start removing racist music from the platform. There was only so long before big names in music began demanding more from the platform.