Main Highlights:
- Neil Young pulled his tracks from Spotify earlier this week, alleging a dispute with the business over its hosting of Joe Rogan and COVID misinformation.
- Apple Music’s competing streamer is now pursuing Young and his fans, positioning itself as “The home of Neil Young” via tweets, playlists, and even push alerts.
- Additionally, the firm has been candid about it. It also included a playlist of Young’s songs named “We Love Neil” at the top of its “browse” section.
Neil Young removed his songs from Spotify earlier this week, citing a disagreement with the company over their hosting of Joe Rogan and COVID disinformation. Naturally, Apple Music’s competitor streamer is now courting Young and his followers, using tweets, playlists, and even push notifications to position itself as “The home of Neil Young.”
Naturally, it’s all a bit of theatrical nonsense. While Neil Young is an iconic songwriter, his presence or absence will have little bearing on the survival of this or that streaming platform. He is in no way comparable to Kanye West or Taylor Swift. Rather than that, Apple is just following a time-honored corporate pattern of infiltrating a relevant news cycle while the going is good. The corporation has also been forthright about it. It even included a playlist of Young’s songs at the top of its “browse” section, titled “We Love Neil.”
Putting away pettiness, the argument does reveal some critical distinctions between the two broadcasters. As Ashley Carman of The Verge noted in an article delving into the choice to retain Rogan over Young, Spotify has placed a far higher premium on podcasts in recent years as part of a broader strategy to diversify its content. By comparison, Apple Music frequently advertises itself as a pure music store (not least because Apple has its own separate podcasts platform).
Throughout this market triangulation, Spotify has been losing market share to rivals. According to new statistics from analytical firm Media Research, Spotify was the most famous music streaming service by a large margin in 2021, with 31% of the market compared to Apple Music’s 15%. Still, that ratio had slipped from 33% in 2020. Spotify continued to grow in terms of total members and the overall market, but this demonstrates that the company’s advantage is far from safe.
Who is Neil Young?
OC OM Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a singer, musician, and songwriter of Canadian and American ancestry. Young began his musical career in the 1960s in Winnipeg and then migrated to Los Angeles, where he joined Buffalo Springfield alongside Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and others. Young has recorded several highly acclaimed and seminal albums since launching his solo career with his backing band Crazy Horse, including Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Harvest, On The Beach, and Rust Never Sleeps.
Young has been nominated for Grammy and Juno Awards. Young was placed No. 34 on Rolling Stone’s ranking of the year’s top 100 musical acts. According to Acclaimed Music, he is the ninth-most-famous artist in the history of popular music. His guitar playing, highly personal lyrics, and distinct high tenor singing voice have defined his lengthy career.
Additionally, he performs piano and harmonica on several CDs, which usually incorporate folk, rock, country, and other musical styles. His frequently distorted electric guitar playing, particularly with Crazy Horse, gave him the moniker “Godfather of Grunge” and paved his 1995 collaboration with Pearl Jam on Mirror Ball. He was recently endorsed by Promise of the Real. Twenty-one of his albums and songs have been certified Gold or Platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.