Euroviews. Neil Young’s Spotify tiff is a reminder that tech giants always win

Neil Young and Joni Mitchell begrudgingly returned their music to Spotify last month, two years after leaving the platform in protest of its largest podcaster, Joe Rogan. 

According to Young, Rogan was using the platform to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” wrote Young to his manager at Warner Music Group.

It turns out, Spotify can have both. 

And, no matter what you think of Young’s protest (or boycott, or whatever it was), his clash with Spotify is a reminder that tech giants have a funny way of getting what they want and resistance from artists is usually futile.

Many creators have long been frustrated with platforms like Spotify and YouTube due to the algorithms they employ, which in part drive views and streams, and by extension, pay. 

Most creators, however, don’t have the clout to issue ultimatums, nor the money to leave these platforms. 

While some artists on Spotify make a decent living, “there is a far, far greater volume of artists — literally millions of them — who are struggling to make ends meet from their streaming royalties,” according to Rolling Stone.

Also, without an established audience of one’s own, artists are pretty much beholden to Spotify and YouTube for views. 

According to Forbes, Spotify holds a dominant 30.5% of the music streaming market, more than double its nearest competitor, Apple Music, which has a 13.7% share. YouTube is virtually unrivalled.

Who cares, you might say, Spotify is beloved. And, hasn’t the company done a lot to democratise music? 

It’s true, the company cut out a lot of the red tape associated with the legacy music business by giving new artists a direct line (and business model) for reaching listeners. 

That ethos is even