She holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Toronto and also helped score several plays and films, including Sook-Yin Lee’s feature film “ Octavio is Dead!”Īs an admirer of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell - both of whom have a long history of supporting political causes - O’Brien says she supports their right to “go out on a limb and make an ultimatum to make their thoughts known.” But she’s unsure if deplatforming Joe Rogan is anything more than a short-term solution to a much larger problem. Spotify did not respond to any specific requests for comment.Īlia O'Brien is a Toronto singer and flautist who plays in the metal band Blood Ceremony and the psychedelic collective known as Badge Époque Ensemble. The Star reached out to four Canadian musicians to weigh in on the Young-Rogan-Spotify battle and to comment on the current state of music streaming. The portal claims that Spotify generates more money for rights holders than any other streaming service.

Last year, Spotify launched Loud & Clear, a web portal that presents data on how Spotify streams are determined and paid out. The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, which represents thousands of music workers fighting for a fairer music industry, applauded Young’s decision to pull his music, and released a list of demands for Spotify, including demands to pay artists at least one cent per stream, to adopt a user-centric payment model, to make all closed-door contracts public and more. The outrage comes also in reaction to the $100 million Spotify dished out for exclusive rights to the massively popular “Joe Rogan Experience,” while refusing to adjust its payment scale for musicians.

Spotify artist boycott