Spotify's very rough PR week has continued this morning, as the hashtag #cancelspotify trended on Twitter.
The streaming giant has been embroiled in a rising controversy over its hosting of podcasting giant Joe Rogan. After doctors petitioned to get Rogan off the platform due to spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, folk-rock legend Neil Young put forth an ultimatum, saying Spotify could choose to keep his music or keep Rogan. Not surprisingly, Spotify chose Rogan, who generates an average of 11 million listeners per podcast episode on the platform.
Young's protest seems to have generated a ripple effect, however. Crooner Barry Manilow and rock star Peter Frampton followed suit in taking their music off Spotify. Regular folks who aren't geriatric musicians have apparently been trying to cancel their subscriptions to the platform in such large numbers that Spotify allegedly can't technologically handle all the cancelations.
Their customer service system is completely overwhelmed. People asking to cancel are being told they cannot.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) January 28, 2022
At the moment, it's still unclear how the anti-Spotify push will play out. It may continue to grow into a larger movement that would surely benefit from a current, popular musician taking a stand against the platform. At the moment, it seems a fair amount of people have no intention of canceling their Spotify subscriptions, as much of the "#cancelspotify" hashtag is filled with memes from people joking about how they're listening to Spotify at this very moment.
#cancelspotify ? And my personally curated playlists too? I think tf not! pic.twitter.com/pguUGAn4FM
— AM I THE VILLAIN? I DONT THINK IM THE VILLAIN. (@ChaoticNormalcy) January 27, 2022
me scrolling through #ByeByeSpotify & #cancelspotify while listening to spotify pic.twitter.com/VwDfb5TxFG
— ✵ Luca ✵ (@LucaLVJY) January 27, 2022
me reading tweets under #cancelspotify while listening to spotify like pic.twitter.com/AGtZfNOP2w
— zan 🧋 (@chlorinekiss) January 27, 2022
Me reading all these #cancelspotify tweets even tho I’ve never even bought Spotify Premium once in my life pic.twitter.com/LbeeoswMJI
— Quiet Wyatt (@scpWyatt) January 27, 2022
Rogan, meanwhile, continues to make headlines for controversial podcast episodes. Recently, he hosted Jordan Peterson, where the two had a very "Petersonian" intellectual debate.
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