Spotify Showdown!

There has been an enormous outrage brewing between music service Spotify, and the angry leftists of Social Media. All due to backlash over alleged “misinformation” promoted by prominent podcaster Joe Rogan. Things escalated this week when Hall of Fame rocker Neil Young suddenly issued Spotify a serious ultimatum. Demanding that they either do something to shut down their star employee, or prepare to remove Neil Young’s entire music collection from their platform!

Obviously, it was a highly unfortunate event for Spotify, as they were now stuck in a lose-lose situation. They either attempt to silence their prized personality, or they cave to the “woke mob” and their latest call for immediate cancellation and censorship. At the end of the day however, it was an investment and ratings no-brainer. Joe was under a large contract and had the largest audience in the news media. Neil still pulled in a few million listens per month, but was way past his prime and naturally fading away gradually anyway.

Unfortunately, this decision wasn’t going to go over well with the left. Not because they had any rational reasoning of course. None of them offered up any actual proof, facts or logical counter-arguments supporting their accusations of “misinformation.” Of course no one challenged Joe to a civil debate to make their case on the record either. Why bother to win hearts and minds the hard way when you can just threaten the other people from ever speaking again?

Since the left had lost this battle, it was soon time for some retaliation: a call to action for everyone to cancel their Spotify subscription service! No, not because they weren’t giving enough money to the musicians that the company makes its money from. It was simply another obnoxious example of what “woke” really is. Unhinged, emotional extremists shrieking out at their exaggerated “enemy” Americans. However, the modern day ‘left’ had long lost any semblance of common sense.

Is this view biased and unfair? I’ve been trying to relate and empathize with this mess as a former leftist myself. For example, would I do the same thing if this situation was reversed? What if Spotify gave a giant contract to some lackey left-wing lunatic that was spreading dangerous “misinformation” on their #1 rated podcast? Would I threaten to have them censored and de-platformed? Would I call to have them swatted like Tim Pool was twice recently? Or would I just cancel my subscription and make an audacious announcement about it on Twitter instead? #CancelSpotify

The answer would be an emphatic “none of the above.” First, because I support free speech; including ideas I don’t agree with. Secondly, if I don’t like your opinion(s) or philosophy, I’ll probably be happy to explain all of my reasoning in great detail. Third, I’ve rarely been one to just go along with a crowd just to fit in with the crowd. Lastly, there is no way I could simply delete all of the work that went into my Spotify playlists! I have over 1500 songs saved in my library, and the collection keeps growing every single week! The music discovery algorithm is almost worth the cost of the app itself in my opinion. That’s over two hours of suggested music selections every Monday that I would never find randomly on the radio or via YouTube for example. Why would I want to delete this great service along with all of the time and work it took to assemble it? For a far worthier cause perhaps, but over a Social Media overreaction supporting authoritarian censorship? Imagine throwing away your entire record/cassette/CD collection just to make a temporary political point? No thanks!

About The Author

Blake Walley

Blake Walley is a writer, reporter and producer. An idealist and truth-seeker obsessed with the future. A new media trailblazer and outside-the box-thinker. Former Las Vegas bartender influenced by Gonzo journalism. Inspired, eccentric, and always up for a challenge. Blake has been making waves for 10 years with his original analysis and creative style.

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