A little noted aspect of this controversy is that the two major musicians who initially withdrew their songs from Spotify, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, both had polio as children in Canada, before the polio vaccine was available. The impact of the disease on their lives was significant. Mitchell, for example, had an arm weakened by polio and as a result taught herself to play guitar in a unique way. Needless to say, the two artists (whose friendship dates from before either of them was famous) have strong beliefs about the efficacy of vaccines and the importance of disseminating them widely to combat disease. It's regrettable that few other artists followed their lead in defying the market might of Spotify, but unless something changes going forward Spotify will have an important hole in its self-declared mandate to have all music in one place - the missing music of Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, individually and as a group, and Joni Mitchell.
A little noted aspect of this controversy is that the two major musicians who initially withdrew their songs from Spotify, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, both had polio as children in Canada, before the polio vaccine was available. The impact of the disease on their lives was significant. Mitchell, for example, had an arm weakened by polio and as a result taught herself to play guitar in a unique way. Needless to say, the two artists (whose friendship dates from before either of them was famous) have strong beliefs about the efficacy of vaccines and the importance of disseminating them widely to combat disease. It's regrettable that few other artists followed their lead in defying the market might of Spotify, but unless something changes going forward Spotify will have an important hole in its self-declared mandate to have all music in one place - the missing music of Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, individually and as a group, and Joni Mitchell.