After Joe Rogan’s Bittersweet Welcome, Neil Young’s $170,000 Reason for Spotify Comeback Comes to Light

Three years ago, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan had found himself in hot water yet again. The world’s largest podcast host came under fire for platforming voices and guests that were alleged to hold fringe views and were ‘spreading misinformation’ around COVID-19 vaccines and lockdowns.

There were the usual calls for Spotify to deplatform the UFC commentator and end their multi-year deal with him. This, of course, did not happen, but many artists took a stand against the platform’s purported inaction. Among them was legendary Canadian singer Neil Young, who penned an open letter to Spotify asking them to pull his catalog from the streaming platform in protest of their continuing association with Joe Rogan. But now, the Canadian is back on the platform, and for good reasons.

Neil Young has good reasons to return to Spotify

Almost a month ago, reports emerged that Neil Young would be returning to Spotify after his public and outspoken exit from Spotify. Especially delighted were Joe Rogan fans who were in a gloating mood and saw this as the Canadian going back on his word.

However, this seems not to be the case as the singer-songwriter has released a statement going into depth about the reasons behind his move. And he does seem to have good reasons, both principled and financial, and which do not contradict his earlier stand, for choosing to return to the streaming platform.

“I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all,” Young wrote in s statement on his website. “So I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it.”

While Young had left Spotify over the platform refusing to take any action against Rogan, who streamed exclusively on Spotify until last year, the terms of the Texas resident’s extension deal with Spotify served as the catalyst for Young’s return.

Rogan’s new deal with Spotify has given him the choice to stream his podcast on other major platforms such as Apple and Amazon. This is why Young chose to return to Spotify, since JRE is now available on Apple and Amazon platforms and the singer is not keen to end his association with these platforms. In addition, Young will reportedly earn over $2 million a year (or $170k per month) in royalties for allowing Spotify to stream his music. While Young has been the subject of ridicule from many Rogan fans, Joe Rogan was a lot more conciliatory and even congratulated the singer on his return to Spotify.

Joe Rogan reacts to Neil Young coming back to Spotify

After initial reports of Young being back on Spotify surfaced, Joe Rogan responded to the news on his podcast. While the JRE podcast host, who has signed a $250 million extension with them was not too braggadocios, he did seem to revel in the singer returning to the platform.

“By the way, Neil Young came back to Spotify. Congratulations, Neil,” Rogan quipped. “And his excuse was he said that because all of the platforms are now allowing my disinformation, he’s just going back on Spotify too,” he said.

However, given the reasons for Young’s return to the streaming platform, Rogan did commend him for being principled. “Great to know you’ve got some ethics,” Rogan added. What are your thoughts on Neil Young’s return to Spotify?