Spotify Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

again.The hugely popular, and hugely controversial, podcast host is threatening to quit the music streaming giant, leaving their $200 million deal on the table. During a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Podcast,” the former mixed martial arts commentator got into a conversation with MMA fighter Josh Barnett about the cutthroat podcast industry ring.“I will quit.

Arlo Parks has shared her cover of Kaytranada‘s ‘You’re The One’ – you can hear her rendition below.The cover has been recorded for a special edition of the Spotify Singles series which is celebrating the Best New Artist category at this year’s Grammys, which will take place on Sunday (April 3).Parks has been nominated in the category, one of two nods for the London singer/songwriter at this year’s ceremony (she’s also up for Best Alternative Music Album for her debut LP ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’), along with the likes of Glass Animals, Baby Keem and Finneas.As well as her rendition of Kaytranada’s ‘You’re The One’ – originally a collaboration with Syd which featured on the producer’s 2016 album ‘99.9%’ – Parks has also shared a new version of her most recent single ‘Softly’. Both tracks, which you can hear below, were recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.“Why it was such a joy to record my Spotify Singles session in the studio, I felt somehow part of the legend,” Parks said in a statement about the songs.“Syd’s voice in ‘You’re the One’ always had this effortless beauty to it in my eyes and I wanted to cover it to expose the romance and yearning behind the lyrics.

Spotify are reportedly set to suspend its service in Russia in response to the country’s newly announced media law.According to Reuters, the streaming platform, which closed its office in Russia indefinitely earlier this month due to Moscow’s “unprovoked attack on Ukraine”, is expected to cease in the country late next month.It comes after Russia introduced a new legislation that makes it illegal to report any event that could discredit the Russian military.“Spotify has continued to believe that it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to provide trusted, independent news and information from the region,” the company said in a statement.“Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation further restricting access to information, eliminating free expression, and criminalizing certain types of news puts the safety of Spotify’s employees and the possibility of even our listeners at risk.”Ukraine has been under attack since February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in the neighbouring country.

Finneas has shared his first music of 2022 with new single ‘Naked’, which sees him bust some impressive dance moves – you can view the video below.The track is the first from Billie Eilish‘s brother and collaborator since his debut album ‘Optimist’ was released last October.The song focuses on a break up as he sings: “Ended back in early ’18/ We didn’t want the same thing / I don’t like the taste of cigarettes or your complaining,” before he admits: “I can’t believe you’ve seen me naked.”It follows his recent cover of Bon Iver‘s 2008 track ‘Flume’ for Spotify Singles and the three songs he wrote with Eilish for Disney‘s soundtrack to their new film Turning Red.Reviewing Finneas’ debut solo album ‘Optimist’ upon its release last year, NME said: “He made his name producing and writing for his megastar sister Billie Eilish, and now it’s Finneas’ turn to step into the spotlight. ‘Optimist’ has been a long time coming – it follows a whopping 23 singles released since 2016 – and fully justifies why he’s become the industry’s producer du jour.“The record takes two paths to do that – classic, timeless pop songwriting and something more modern and cutting-edge.

Spotify has revealed that it paid $7billion (£5.3billion) to artists last year.The news was published via its Loud And Clear website, which aims to “increase transparency” around payments.The streaming giant said that 56,200 musicians received more than $10,000 (£7,500) from Spotify last year and 130 of these were paid more than $5m (£3.8m).However, the figures shared don’t include the final figure the artist receives once labels and publishers have taken their share, which means the money they receive is often much lower. Songwriters and session musicians receive even less.The service has come under fire previously for its low artist payments, with the likes of David Byrne, producer Tony Visconti and David Crosby all criticising the platform recently.Visconti described the streaming service as “disgusting” over its low payments to artists.

Spotify‘s huge new sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, saying the cash could have helped hundreds of struggling music venues instead.After significant rumours, today (March 16) it was confirmed that the streaming service have confirmed a groundbreaking sponsorship deal with the world famous Spanish club, which will see Spotify’s logo appear on match and training kits, and the club’s stadium renamed the Spotify Nou Camp.A statement described the deal as a “first-of-its-kind partnership for the club in bringing the worlds of music and football together” and is set to “see the pair working together to create opportunities for the iconic shirt to become a space that can celebrate artists from across the world”.In a series of tweets responding to the news, the MVT said: “For the amount of money Spotify have agreed to spend on TEMPORARILY branding FC Barcelona they could, instead, have secured a PERMANENT future for circa 700 UK Grassroots Music Venues.For the amount of money Spotify have agreed to spend on TEMPORARILY branding FC Barcelona they could, instead, have secured a PERMANENT future for circa 700 UK Grassroots Music Venues.— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) March 16, 2022“Such an investment could have unleashed £40 million per annum into grassroots artist talent development, from which Spotify, [Universal, Sony, Warner] and others are the ultimate financial beneficiaries.”They added: “Not only that, but an investment of money in this way would generate a reasonable financial return, being invested into bricks and mortar and therefore remaining an asset.

Spotify have confirmed a groundbreaking sponsorship deal with the world famous FC Barcelona.Last month, it was announced that the club and streaming service were close to a deal worth £237million after the football club announced back in September that it has debts of more than £1billion.From the start of next season, which begins at the end of this summer, the club’s famous stadium will be renamed the Spotify Nou Camp – the first time it has ever bore a sponsor’s name – while the team’s match and training kit will also be sponsored by Spotify.It will be the first time the stadium has carried a sponsor’s name – and is a historic moment for a club that refused any shirt sponsor until 2006.A statement described the deal as a “first-of-its-kind partnership for the club in bringing the worlds of music and football together” and is set to “see the pair working together to create opportunities for the iconic shirt to become a space that can celebrate artists from across the world”.We’re partnering with @Spotify to bring football and music together like you’ve never seen before

David Byrne says he believes that Spotify is “making artists uncomfortable” around the scandal relating to COVID misinformation shared on Joe Rogan’s podcast.Earlier this year, Rogan and Spotify were heavily criticised for sharing misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine on the exclusive podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, which led to artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from the service.Byrne, who in 2013 publicly criticised the “pittance” artists are paid in terms of royalties from streaming services like Spotify, and claimed he had pulled as much of his catalogue as possible from the service, was asked his thoughts on the ongoing scandal in a new interview with the Guardian.“There’s been all these things about platforms having … let’s say questionable or controversial content [and] putting out misinformation or outright lies or … not exactly hate speech, but things that are making a lot of artists uncomfortable,” he said.“And it’s pretty tough to do anything to help ameliorate that unless you’re a Drake or Taylor Swift, or those kinds of artists. It’s pretty hard for the rest of us to have influence.”Byrne added: “A handful of mega, mega artists are doing really well, and many of the others – especially emerging artists – are having a tough time with it.

Spotify has shuttered its Moscow office in response to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.Confirming its Moscow office would be closed “indefinitely”, the streaming platform said they were “providing individual support to our personnel” in Moscow, as well as their “global community of Ukrainian employees”.The new measures have come into place as sanctions have made processing payments in the country impossible.“Due to new restrictions introduced by major payment providers, payment processing is not currently possible for the majority of Premium users in Russia,” a Spotify spokesman told AFP (via Geo News).They added that paid premium accounts “will be cancelled if a recurring payment fails and the account will then be automatically moved to our free service”. The company said it had also “paused all advertising campaigns running in Russia.”In addition to restricting the discoverability of Russian state-affiliated media, the platform previously removed all content from Kremlin-backed outlets RT and Sputnik that was hosted on Spotify in the European Union and other markets.Spotify has stopped short of shutting off access for their Russian users, saying they believe it’s “critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information”.

Finneas has shared a cover of Bon Iver‘s 2008 track ‘Flume’ for Spotify Singles – check it out below.Billie Eilish‘s brother and collaborator released his debut album ‘Optimist’ last October, and the new two-track live release also features a special version of the album track ‘Medieval’ alongside the Bon Iver cover.In a statement, Finneas said he was “honoured to finally be able to get into the brand new and beautiful Spotify Studios to record these songs in these special arrangements”.Listen to Finneas cover Bon Iver’s ‘Flume’ and play ‘Medieval’ for Spotify Singles below.Reviewing Finneas’ debut solo album ‘Optimist’ upon its release last year, NME said: “He made his name producing and writing for his megastar sister Billie Eilish, and now it’s Finneas’ turn to step into the spotlight. ‘Optimist’ has been a long time coming – it follows a whopping 23 singles released since 2016 – and fully justifies why he’s become the industry’s producer du jour.“The record takes two paths to do that – classic, timeless pop songwriting and something more modern and cutting-edge.

Freddie Gibbs has said that he doesn’t think Joe Rogan is a racist despite the podcaster using the N-word dozens of times in previous episodes.The rapper appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience on Tuesday (March 1) and made it clear that, while white people shouldn’t use the word and Rogan was wrong to have done so, he doesn’t believe that the broadcaster is in fact racist.“You can’t say that shit, Joe,” Gibbs told Rogan during the episode. “’Cause you pissed n****s off when you did that compilation. It was funny as fuck, though.

Spotify has shuttered its Moscow office in response to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and will restrict the discoverability of content owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media.“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement.“Our first priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an important source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever.”Confirming its Moscow office would be closed “indefinitely”, the streaming platform said they were “providing individual support to our personnel” in Moscow, as well as their “global community of Ukrainian employees”.In addition to restricting the discoverability of Russian state-affiliated media, the platform has also removed all content from Kremlin-backed outlets RT and Sputnik that was hosted on Spotify in the European Union and other markets. Additionally, it has launched a guide on the platform that directs users to localised “trusted news” sources.Spotify has stopped short of shutting off access for their Russian users, however, saying they believe it’s “critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information”.“We are exploring additional steps that we can take and will continue to do what is in the best interest of our employees and our listeners,” the statement concluded.Ukraine has been under attack since last Thursday (February 24), when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in the neighbouring country.

Tony Visconti has shared his views on Spotify, criticising the streaming service as “disgusting” over its low payments to artists.Visconti, best known for his lifelong work with David Bowie, was asked by The Independent about a tweet in January in which he asked followers to help him delete his Spotify account.It came during backlash around podcaster Joe Rogan, whose show on the platform was criticised for sharing misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine, and which led to artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music.Visconti clarified that he did not eventually delete his account. “I thought about it, but I use Spotify as a tool,” he said.

David Crosby has offered young creatives a stark message, saying “don’t become a musician”.In a new interview with Stereogum, Crosby was asked what message he would give to new musical creatives. He replied: “Don’t become a musician.”The reason he gave was largely due to streaming royalties.He continued: “I don’t like Spotify. I don’t like any of the streamers, because they don’t pay us properly.

Spotify has agreed to change its rules on playlists following the release of a 1000-track protest album by cult indie band The Pocket Gods, which railed against the streaming platform’s payment rates.Spotify has been accused of paying artists as little as £0.002 for each stream on its service, with royalties only being activated if a song is listened to for at least 30 seconds.A 2015 i article on the economics of streaming then influenced The Pocket Gods to release ‘1000×30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore’ on Spotify on February 8, with each of the record’s 1000 tracks clocking in at around the 30-second mark.“I saw the [2015] article and it made me think, ‘Why write longer songs when we get paid little enough for just 30 seconds?’” frontman Mark Christopher Lee told i earlier this month.The stunt by the St Albans band, which has seen their protest album clock up nearly 600,000 total streams, has now drawn a response from Spotify, with founder Daniel Ek reportedly reaching out to Lee to set up a meeting between The Pocket Gods and Spotify’s head of artist relations.“Spotify said we’re ahead of the curve as shorter songs are the future – just look at TikTok,” Lee told i in a new interview. “They said that I can pitch 30 second tracks to their playlists [drivers of chart hits] for consideration – I wasn’t able to do this previously as the songs were considered too short.“So next week I’m releasing a 30-second single called ‘Noel Gallagher Is Jealous Of My Studio’.”Lee added that he was told that pay rates to songwriters would increase when Spotify rolls out an increase in its subscription price, which is currently priced at £9.99 for premium users.

Spotify podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.Earlier this month, India.Arie shared a compilation of clips that featured Rogan using the N-word repeatedly and describing a Black neighbourhood as being similar to the Planet Of The Apes movie.Rogan has since apologised, telling his Instagram followers. “There’s been a lot of shit from the old episodes of the podcast that I wish I hadn’t said, or had said differently.

Coldplay have shared an expansive cover of Kid Cudi‘s 2008 hit ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ – check out their version below.The cover arrives for a new Spotify Singles release, which also features a new version of ‘Let Somebody Go’, their recent collaboration with Selena Gomez.“‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ I loved when it came out, and I still love love love it,” frontman Chris Martin said of the band’s decision to cover the track, which they turn into a stadium-ready song full of pulsating synths.“Martin added: This is the first time I think that we’ve really taken proper time to record a cover, because in my head I could hear a version of it quite different from the original, that hopefully just reinforces what a brilliant song it is. One way or another I hope that anyone listening will just think, ‘Wow, Kid Cudi is amazing.’”Of ‘Let Somebody Go’, Martin added: “I have always loved Selena’s voice and when ‘Let Somebody Go’ arrived it felt like she was the only person to sing it with.“I’m so happy she said yes.

David Crosby has called Joe Rogan “not real impressive” amid detailing in a new interview his reasons for pulling all his music off of Spotify.Earlier this month, the member of the disbanded folk supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (which when completed by Neil Young were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) joined his former bandmates in support of Young’s demand that his music be erased from Spotify.Young took particular aim at controversial podcaster Joe Rogan – a prominent skeptic of the COVID vaccine who has a $100million exclusivity contract with Spotify – pointing out widespread misinformation shared through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.“We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast,” Crosby, who also performs solo, said along with the group in a joint statement via his social media.pic.twitter.com/yyhHTQi7fm— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022Now, in an interview with Stereogum, Crosby has expanded on his decision to shun Spotify and remove his music from the platform. He also made it clear that he takes issue with all streaming services – not just Spotify, with which Rogan has the lucrative content deal.“Here’s how I feel about it.

YouTube channel has 5.4 million subscribers, and his new podcast, Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories, has skyrocketed to the number one spot on Spotify’s true crime podcast chart. In doing so, it surpassed established hits like Crime Junkie and Murder, Mystery & Makeup. Allen, 33, was raised outside of Boston in Quincy, Massachusetts.

will only be available through his own music player.The “All the Lights” rapper shared in an Instagram post Saturday his purported sales since revealing a day earlier that he would release the record only with the purchase of his $200 “Stem Player.” “We’ve made $2,227,012.05 in 24 hours,” West wrote. “God is good Thank you guys for taking this journey.”His Stem Player lets users “customize any song,” according to its sale page.West announced this week that he was shunning services like Spotify, Amazon, Youtube, and Apple for being unfair to artists.A post shared by ye (@kanyewest)“It’s time to free music from this oppressive system.

Joe Rogan has taken flak for hosting guests with sometimes-controversial opinions on vaccines and political issues, but a Spotify spokesperson said it was simply a technical malfunction.“It’s a technical issue affecting a number of our shows and should be resolved soon,” the spokesperson told The Post.The podcast appeared to be inaccessible for about 20 minutes.Neil Young recently pulled his music off of Spotify in protest of Rogan. Spotify paid Joe Rogan at least $200 million to exclusively host his podcast, according to the New York Times.

Spotify may have paid at least $200million for the exclusive rights to Joe Rogan’s podcast, double the figure that was previously reported.The streaming giant secured an exclusive license to host The Joe Rogan Experience in May 2020, when it was widely reported the controversial podcast host had been paid over $100million as part of the deal.However, “two people familiar with the details of the transaction” have since claimed to The New York Times that the three-and-a-half-year deal was actually worth twice what was initially believed: at least $200million. Spotify has yet to publicly comment on this report.The Times points out Spotify had previously purchased whole content companies – podcast network Gimlet Media and digital media brand The Ringer – both for slightly less than $200million each.In recent weeks, Spotify has come under fire for hosting The Joe Rogan Experience, its biggest podcast in the US and many other countries, with an estimated per-episode listenership of around 11million people.Last month, Neil Young requested the platform pull his catalogue, citing “false information about vaccines” being spread on the platform and specifically targeting Rogan’s podcast.

India.Arie has clarified her reasons for leaving Spotify, after she became one of many artists to boycott the service in recent weeks.When she first pulled her music from the service earlier this month, Arie cited their exclusive hosting of Joe Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reason she left Spotify.“Neil Young opened a door that I must walkthrough,” she wrote on Instagram, explaining how was following on from Neil Young’s exit from Spotify due to Rogan spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19 on his podcast.“I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons other than his COVID interviews,” she said at the time.Now, in a new interview with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, Arie has discussed how Spotify’s royalties scheme and business practices also influenced her decision.Asked if Rogan was her enemy by Noah, Arie said: “My conversation has been about Spotify and its treatment of artists.“I have to say that asking for my music to be pulled from Spotify in protest doesn’t actually serve me,” she added, “but I did it in protest just because I felt like my dignity was being … I felt like I was being disrespected.”Discussing royalty payments artists get from Spotify, Arie explained: “What happens is, they say, ‘Well, this is just how it is; this is just what you get paid.

Kendrick Lamar and a number of special guests will discuss his acclaimed 2015 album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ in a new five-part podcast series.The Big Hit Show is a docuseries hosted by journalist Alex Pappademas.

Ted Nugent has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding Spotify and Neil Young‘s decision to pull his music from the platform.Young last month demanded that his music be removed from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Young’s former bandmates Crosby, Stills & Nash, comedian Stewart Lee, Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, and cult alternative rockers Failure, among others.Now, controversial right-wing rocker Ted Nugent has spoken out about Young’s decision, calling the ‘Harvest Moon’ singer-songwriter “a complete punk”.Speaking on his ‘Friday Free For All’ edition of The Nightly Nuge on Friday (February 11), he said: “Well, Neil Young, God bless him. I’m sure that there’s many people that appreciate Neil Young’s creativity and his talents and his creation of wonderful music for those people who love that kind of music.

Spotify-exclusive podcast The Joe Rogan Experience this week, both on-stage and during an episode of the podcast itself.Rogan’s podcast recently prompted protest from the likes of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, with the musicians pulling their catalogues from the streaming platform.Young sparked the exodus late last month, when he requested his music be taken off Spotify, citing the platform “spreading false information about vaccines” and specifically targeting Rogan.It came after hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on Rogan’s podcast – calling the host’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.In response, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that, while the platform wouldn’t be severing ties with the controversial figure, they would be adding content advisories to podcast episodes which discussed COVID-19, directing users to their dedicated information hub.Rogan himself addressed the boycott on Instagram, telling fans: “I don’t always get it right. I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.”Shortly after, Rogan found himself embroiled in controversy again when songwriter India.Arie shared a video that compiled instances the podcast host had used the N-word on his podcast.

Steve Albini has called on Joe Rogan to follow the example of Insane Clown Posse, as Rogan continues to face a backlash over the content of his Spotify podcast.Rogan recently apologised after it emerged that he had used the N-word multiple times on his show, calling it “the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve had to talk about publicly” before arguing that the clips had been “taken out of context of 12 years of conversations on my podcast”.He was already under fire after Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and more removed their music from Spotify in response to vaccine misinformation promoted by guests on his show, which has been exclusive to the streaming platform since a $100million deal was struck in 2020.On Monday (February 7), Albini shared an interview with Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J from 2020 in which the musician acknowledged problematic lyrics in the band’s music.Discussing ICP’s 2000 collaboration with Three 6 Mafia, which contains the line “sick like a diseased Ethiopian,” Violent J told Stereogum: “I was that stupid. I didn’t understand the offensiveness in that.

“Joe Rogan watchdog” for the progressive nonprofit Media Matters — shared seven clips of the 54-year-old making off-color comments during podcast interviews with various guests. Paterson posted the “Joe Rogan Experience” clips to Twitter on Monday — just days after Rogan was forced to apologize for other, older footage that featured him using the N-word.

Spotify and FC Barcelona are reportedly close to agreeing a sponsorship deal, according to a radio station based in the Spanish city.The football club announced back in September that it has debts of more than £1billion, and they are said to now be in talks with the streaming service over a £237million deal.The purported three-year deal would see Spotify’s name appear on the shirts of both the men’s and women’s teams, and their training kits. It would also be prefixed to the football giant’s stadium name, which would then be known as the Spotify Nou Camp.As well as reports from the radio station RACI (via The Times), a Catalan journalist has also shared a photo online of executives from Spotify meeting with Juli Guiu, FC Barcelona’s vice president of marketing, at the stadium.If the deal is closed successfully, it could make for some positive news for the streaming platform, which has been embroiled in controversy recently surrounding its exclusive The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.Rogan was called out for spreading “misinformation” about the COVID-19 vaccine on the show, while clips later resurfaced online of him using racial slurs and making racist comments on the programme.

Spotify over their alleged support of vaccine misinformation, Neil Young has encouraged workers at Spotify – as well as fellow musicians – to step away from the streaming giant.“In our communication age, misinformation is the problem,” he wrote in a statement to his website yesterday (February 7). “Ditch the misinformers. Find a good clean place to support with your monthly checks.