Spotify investors may be scrambling right now as several prominent artists pull their music, but now’s no time to panic.
Jan. 31, 2022
Neil Young versus Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) and Joe Rogan isn’t exactly what we expected from 2022, but here we are.
And, it’s cost Spotify more than $2 billion so far…
…so, should investors be concerned about Spotify?
He may have a heart of gold, but Neil Young won’t be rockin’ in Spotify’s free world any time soon. Citing his dissatisfaction with Spotify’s exclusive broadcasting of the controversial ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast and its alleged anti-vax rhetoric, Young has officially pulled his sizeable catalog from the world’s largest streaming service.
What’s more, other musicians, including Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren, have followed suit. And it’s not just musicians, with popular podcaster Brene Brown announcing that she would “not be releasing any podcasts until further notice.”
So, where does this leave Spotify, which has lost $2 billion in market value since the story broke, and forked out $100 million for exclusive rights to Rogan?
Spotify’s in the same position as before, really. CEO Daniel Ek came out last night and announced plans to add a content advisory on any podcast episode that mentions COVID-19. And to be honest, that’s probably that.
This story represents quite the storm in a teacup for Spotify investors, who should be more concerned with the company’s upcoming earnings report on Wednesday. With streamers such as Netflix and Disney teetering at the moment over slow subscriber growth, could Spotify be next to face Wall Street’s ire?
Artist disputes are Spotify’s bread and butter already, and I’ve no doubt it will resolve the Neil Young dilemma, but it’s important, as investors, that we keep a close eye on subscriber growth this week, and how the company plans to continue building.