Old Man and Spotify — The Neil Young Fracas

When “Brands with Values” clash with “Value Brands”

If you have been keeping up with the headlines, you probably saw the very public breakup between Neil Young, one of the legendary singer and song writers of our time, and Spotify, the largest streaming music service. In summary, Mr. Young decided to take issue with Joe Rogan, a controversial radio host, who had been spreading false information about the utility of COVID-19 vaccinations on his Spotify podcasts. He demanded that the platform choose between him or Rogan. Spotify promptly removed all of Young’s songs from the platform.

Here, we are not interested in the politics of the spat. Rather, we want to understand what situations like these mean for marketers and brands.

Neil Young really had no choice. He is what I call a “brand with values,” which goes to its consumers with the promise that it intimately shares their values. Neil’s activism goes back decades, starting with the song “Ohio” that he wrote in response to the Kent State massacre of May 4, 1970. In subsequent years, he campaigned vigorously against everything from heroin addiction to the wars in the middle east using his music as his voice of protest. Neil Young, the brand, has been a voice of conscience that speaks when the nation or its people are headed in the wrong…