Neil Young and Joni Mitchell vs. Spotify

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Meredith Blake was the person who first taught me the art of the ultimatum.
The year: 1998. The film: The Parent Trap, directed by Nancy Meyers, the queen of kitchen set design. The actress: Elaine Hendrix.

Spoilers ahead for a 24-year-old movie, which was a remake of a 61-year-old movie

Let me set the scene: the mischievous preteen twins, Annie and Hallie (both played by the rising star, Lindsay Lohan, with an And Introducing… credit in the film’s open) have spent a weekend camping trip in northern California with their father, Nick (Dennis Quaid) and soon-to-be stepmother, Meredith (the aforementioned Hendrix).

In a bid to dissuade Meredith from marrying their father, they play a series of pranks on her, from telling her there are mountain lions about, to putting a gecko on her head, and finally, setting her afloat on the lake on her air mattress while she’s still asleep. Meredith awakens to a bird pecking at her bosom. “That’s nice, Nicky,” she coos. When she doesn’t get a response, she blinks her eyes open, blinded by the morning sun reflected off the water. It’s then that she realizes that she’s not, in fact, waking up beside her betrothed in her tent; she’s in the middle of the lake. Understandably, she freaks out, and falls into the water.* 

Soaking wet, she stomps onto shore, greeted by a fairly indifferent fiancé and two smirking stepdaughters-to-be. “That’s it,” she says to Nick. “It’s me or them. Take your pick.” 

“Them,” says Nick.

“Excuse me?” Meredith responds, aghast.

“Them. T-H-E-M, them.”

In a way, justice for Meredith. 

If you’re wondering why I’m recounting a scene from The Parent Trap, it’s because we saw another big ultimatum play out in the podcast world this week — except it resulted in the one proposing the ultimatum coming off looking mighty principled, and party given the ultimatum looking… not great, at the very least.

Joe Rogan’s podcast  (I am not linking to this because I certainly do not endorse it, and recommend everyone stay far, far away from this man and his show) is known for misinformation. He’s had plenty of unsavoury guests on his podcast, including noted terrible person Al*x J*nes, infamous for spreading the conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax. 

Spotify acquired the rights to be the exclusive podcast platform for Rogan’s show in 2020, and it remains the platform’s most popular podcast. A great reminder to us all that just because something’s popular, that does not mean it’s good. In fact, popular things can cause a great deal of harm!

This week, Neil Young posted a letter on his website addressed to his management team and record label, which he quickly deleted. In this letter, he requested his music be removed from Spotify, in protest of Rogan spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccine.

Spotify’s response was akin to “hate to see you go, but I love to watch you walk away.” 

They did not actually say that. The New York Times (among others) reported what they actually said in a statement: 

“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic.”

“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify [...] but hope to welcome him back soon.”

And so that’s the end of Neil Young on Spotify — at least, for now. 

While I feel quite sure there’s plenty more to come on this story, it does tell us a lot about where Spotify’s priorities lie. The fact that Rogan’s show continues to be one of the most listened-to podcasts in the world, if not the most, makes me genuinely concerned for our future.

But it does give me hope to see artists sticking their neck out to counter this. While I’m loath to give any famous person credit lest they inevitably disappoint me, in this case, it seems Neil Young may just possess a heart of gold himself.

*I just need you to know that I’m describing this scene from memory, and I’m pretty sure I nailed it

We send out our newsletter by around 5 every Friday. On Friday evening, Joni Mitchell announced that she was pulling her music from Spotify, too. While I consider myself a casual Neil Young listener, Joni Mitchell has been my number one girl since I first heard A Case of You on the radio when I was in Grade 12. Without her music on the platform, I'm going to have to finally figure out how to make Apple Music work on my iPhone 7.

And we’re juuuuust gunna leave these tweets here.

 
 
 

editaudio is hiring a Production Coordinator. Check out the description and apply via their Google Form — the position pays $45k to $65k and the hours range from 30 to 45 per week. 

When I graduated from King’s in 2014, I went on a road trip with my mom and sister to PEI for a few days. I had a bad case of strep throat, and spent a great deal of time in our B&B room’s giant tub. Ever since, I have vowed to return. All of which is to say, CBC PEI is hiring a temporary, full-time associate producer for Island Morning. The position runs until April 2023, and applications are due by EOD February 4.

Rogers Sportsnet Audio is hiring a producer to make daily/nightly podcasts for Sportsnet 590 the FAN. If you know sports better than I do, this might just be the job for you!

Antica Productions in Toronto is still hiring a whole whack of roles that span all levels of experience: production assistant, researcher, associate producer, producer, and senior/executive producer.   

CBC Toronto is hiring a permanent, full-time weekend assignment producer. Apply by EOD February 10.

CBC London is hiring a reporter/editor assigned to Afternoon Drive. This is a permanent, full-time position, and the application is due by EOD February 2. 

CBC Vancouver is hiring a part-time, permanent weekend assignment producer. Apply by EOD February 4. 

CBC Edmonton is hiring a French-language producer/host — apply by EOD Feb 4. 

For the morning crowd, CBC Alberta is hiring a permanent, full-time host/producer for Daybreak Alberta. Apply by EOD on February 9.

Want to work with CBC Podcasts? They’re hiring a digital associate producer for a full-time contract. Apply by EOD January 31.

CBC’s Windsor Morning host application deadline has been extended to Feb 4 — so hop to it!

The Globe and Mail is hiring a lifestyle editor — there’s no deadline listed, but the job was posted on Jan 25.

Students under 30! Broadview Magazine is accepting applications for the Muriel Duncan internship, which pays $7,200 to work with the editorial team at Broadview through the summer. This works out to about $15/hour, based on a 40 hour work week. Apply by February 1.

I read this article in the New York Times: On New Podcasts, the Sound of Falling in Love. Reggie Ugwu profiled two “audio dating shows”: This is Dating and It’s Nice To Hear You. Dating shows are, no doubt, ethically questionable. One of my favourite podcasts, the Bachelor recap show Love to See it with Emma Gray and Claire Fallon, often discusses the emotional turmoil that Bachelor producers put the contestants through for the sake of “the process”/good television. And yet, I tune in.

I decided to try out It’s Nice To Hear You, and I’m so glad I did. In the first episode, Heather Li explains her experiment: after being laid off in March of 2020, and going through her own disappointing romantic entanglement, she got into watching Love is Blind. It made her wonder — what if there was a way of matchmaking through voice notes? 

I’ve listened to the first two episodes, and so far, I’m intrigued. The people Li finds remain anonymous to the listener, which, in my mind, assuages some of the ethical quandaries. It’s a thoughtful and intimate show, and balances the fascination of listening into fragments of other people’s conversations with interesting commentary from experts. While Li is a first-time podcaster, there’s a team of professionals working with her, and the sound design adds to the intimacy. I’m curious about it from an industry perspective — it was sponsored by a company that does AI… with voice? I kind of forget what it is. But I’m always interested in how these projects get made.

Wondering how the HECK to promote your podcast on social media? Our very own social whiz Emily Latimer reached out to TikTok Canada to get some insight into how to use TikTok to promote your podcast. She brings in examples like the podcast Ladies & Tangents, who grew their TikTok following to over 1 million people in about ten months. Their show climbed the podcast charts as a result. Lots to learn! 

We want to hear from you! What are you looking for in your podcast news? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, or by email at info@vocalfrystudios.com.

Thanks to Emily Latimer for editing this newsletter, and to Katie Jensen for designing it.

We’ll see you again on February 4. Until then, here’s an update from these bunnies at a bunny cafe that producer Max visited. 

Yours in friends and fries,

Michal

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