Connect The Dots

 You better lose yourself in the music, the moment /You own it, you better never let it go

Neil Young, rock and roll's grumpy old man, has made a line in the proverbial sand. He posted a letter to his management group and his record company stating, “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have  Rogan or Young. Not both.” The Rogan in question is Joe Rogan, the talking head of the Ultimate Fighting Challenge and host of a podcast found on the other name mentioned there, Spotify. Oh, and the Young there refers to himself, or more specifically, his music. As far as followers go, Mister Rogan outpaces Mister Young at a pace of nearly two to one, with The Joe Rogan Experience pulling in eleven million and the Neil Young's catalog garnering just over six million.

An easy enough business decision, there, right? Except that the reason Neil Young felt compelled to take such a stand was the steady stream of vaccine disinformation streaming from the oraficicle known as Joe Rogan. Young's letter continued: “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.” So, when Joe sticks his face in front of the microphone and begins riffing on sundry conspiracies about vaccines and COVID-19. Coincidentally, a group of two hundred seventy doctors and scientists have made the same request of Spotifiy. Their letter asked that Rogan's outlet for those crackpots who have already been banned from other social media platforms for spreading false information be shut down. 

Somewhere in the background you can hear the grumblings of the "Free Speech" crew that feel that their brand of rant deserves to be heard, no matter the cost of human lives lost. It just so happens that social media platforms are businesses and not constitutionally required to air the ravings of every discredited "expert" on any given subject. Neil Young is weighing in on the side of science with a few million more followers than your average virologist. 

And now, on a relatively related note, we began today's post with the words of young Marshall Mathers, known to his fans as Eminem. Mister Em will be performing at this year's Super Bowl halftime, along with an all star hip-hop lineup that includes  Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige,Kendrick Lamar, and Dr. Dre. In the interest of transparency, I should mention that Dr. Dre is not a medical doctor. But these are all superstars who will not be paid for their time. This is more along the lines of a promotional appearance. Which may be why the powers that be at the National Football League have not considered paying the hundreds of dancers who will spend seventy-two hours for the opportunity to give the show that crowded lookdown on the field by dancing along with the featured dancers who will be up on the stage with the aforementioned superstars. Those folks down there, giving their all and waving their glow sticks and their booties, will not be paid for their time or their effort. Does this seem fair? Currently none of the hip-hop royalty have seen to speak out about it.

Maybe Neil Young could get something done?