David Crosby says he's unimpressed by Joe Rogan and criticises streamers for “ripping” acts off
David Crosby has called Joe Rogan “not real impressive” amid detailing in a new interview his reasons for pulling all his music off of Spotify.
Earlier this month, the member of the disbanded folk supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (which when completed by Neil Young were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) joined his former bandmates in support of Young’s demand that his music be erased from Spotify.
Young took particular aim at controversial podcaster Joe Rogan – a prominent skeptic of the COVID vaccine who has a $100million exclusivity contract with Spotify – pointing out widespread misinformation shared through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
“We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast,” Crosby, who also performs solo, said along with the group in a joint statement via his social media.
— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022
Now, in an interview with Stereogum, Crosby has expanded on his decision to shun Spotify and remove his music from the platform. He also made it clear that he takes issue with all streaming services – not just Spotify, with which Rogan has the lucrative content deal.
“Here’s how I feel about it. I think Joe Rogan is… eh, not real impressive. But I think he has a right to spew his garbage. He has a right to do it. I think Spotify has a right to put him up there,” Crosby said.
“I absolutely will fight for their right to do that. I have a right to not be associated with it. I told a friend this morning, ‘Listen man, if I was selling my records in a marketplace, I don’t want to be selling them next to some spoiled meat.’
“That’s why I don’t want to be on the same platform as Joe Rogan. He’s calling people the n word all the time. He’s talking about women as if they’re a mouth and a pair of tits. He doesn’t really represent me at all, so I don’t want to be there with him.
“That’s all I said. I said I’m removing me. I’m not trying censor him or you. That’s of course the first thing that all his fans said: ‘This is censorship! You used to be a hippie!’ I still am. I still have the exact same set of values. I just don’t want to be associated with that guy.”
He continued: “With me, you have to understand – I don’t like Spotify. I don’t like any of the streamers, because they don’t pay us properly.”
Additionally, Crosby indicated that the Rogan controversy was the last straw in terms of him personally eschewing digital streaming services (DSPs).
When asked by the interviewer if he would want his music returned to Spotify should it remove Rogan’s podcast, Crosby said: “No, I don’t want to be in there. I don’t like ’em and their quality’s lousy and their payscale’s lousy and I don’t want anything to do with them.”
He added that he does “not envision going back” to the platform.
Crosby also stressed that he’s knows that he’s financially able to reject having his music on DSPs but that smaller acts don’t have as much choice.
“In principle, I think everybody should pull their stuff off [streaming platforms] but I don’t think most people can afford to simply because even the pittance they pay is better than nothing for most people.”
Since Young issued his demand in January, Joni Mitchell, Stewart Lee and cult alternative rockers Failure have followed suit in requesting their music be pulled.
Meanwhile, a new report indicates that Spotify may have paid at least $200million for the exclusive rights to Rogan’s podcast, double the figure that was previously reported.
