"I grew by 2 million subscribers" - Joe Rogan says Spotify got calls from two former U.S. presidents during Neil Young controversy

Joe Rogan recently addressed the controversial feud between him and folk rock legend Neil Young. The online beef started when Young accused Rogan of spreading misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Young publicly declared his disapproval of Spotify having Rogan on their catalogs and decided to pull out his music from their platforms.

In a recent JRE episode featuring renowned sleep specialist Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, Joe Rogan looked back at the Neil Young fiasco. As it turned out, Young's boycotting of Spotify did Rogan more good than bad.

Rogan said:

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

"All of a sudden I hear that Neil Young wants me removed from Spotify. I was like, 'What the f*ck is going on. This is crazy'. Spotify got calls from two former presidents. Oh yeah...I grew by two million subscribers in a month. I did because people started listening because they made it sound like I was this maniac and they started listening. Like, 'Oh, he's really reasonable and pretty humble about all this stuff and just asking questions."

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (22:51):

When Joe Rogan welcomed Neil Young back to Spotify

Since his feud with Neil Young, Rogan's fame grew, culminating in a new $250 million deal with Spotify that allows him to upload his JRE episodes across multiple platforms. It's safe to say that the music giant decided to side with the world's most famous podcast as opposed to folding to Neil Young's public tantrums.

Interestingly, Young eventually ended his boycott of the streaming platform in 2024, two years after he decided to pull out his music. He bitterly announced his return to the music platform in an open letter to the public, calling Spotify the 'home of low-res music'.

In a JRE episode last year featuring James Lindsay, Joe Rogan addressed Young's Spotify return:

"By the way Neil Young came back to Spotify. Congratulations, Neil. And his excuse was, he said that, because all of the platforms are now allowing my disinformation so that he just go back on Spotify too. Great to know you've got some ethics [Laughs]."

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below:

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

Know More

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

Edited by Tejas Rathi