What you need to know
- Spotify appears to have been overwhelmed by cancellation requests.
- Reports suggest Spotify has shut down its live customer support because of complaints and cancellation requests.
- It all started earlier this week when artist Neil Young asked the platform to take down his music over Joe Rogan's podcast and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
Spotify appears to have been overwhelmed by cancellations requests and customer support issues following the Joe Rogan/Neil Young Saga that started earlier this week.
Earlier this week it emerged that artist Neil Young had told Spotify he wanted his songs to be removed from the platform because of Joe Rogan's podcast and the spread of misinformation about vaccines. Spotify took the decision to remove Young's catalog, and the hashtag #cancelSpotify started to trend on Twitter, as did Apple Music as many flocked from one rival service to the other.
Joni Mitchell has joined Young over Joe Rogan in removing her music from Spotify, and Apple did not miss the opportunity to have a sly dig at its streaming rival.
According to a couple of reports on Twitter, Spotify has been overwhelmed by requests to cancel and live customer support requests such that it has ground to a halt.
BREAKING: Spotify has shutdown its live customer support due to an unprecedented number of complaints after they doubled-down on their Joe Rogan anti-vax campaign pic.twitter.com/yscw97xTktBREAKING: Spotify has shutdown its live customer support due to an unprecedented number of complaints after they doubled-down on their Joe Rogan anti-vax campaign pic.twitter.com/yscw97xTkt— LeGate (founder @ GoodPillow™) (@williamlegate) January 27, 2022January 27, 2022
MainStreet Law's Tristan Snell says Spotify is no longer letting people cancel their subscriptions, stating:
Spotify is no longer letting people cancel subscriptions. Their customer service system is completely overwhelmed. People asking to cancel are being told they cannot. Presumably Spotify will allow cancellations again at some point once their system is not so flooded.
Plenty of people responding noted they had successfully managed to cancel, but some did complain of a slow or non-responsive website, as well as problems using the app.
The saga took a frankly hilarious turn on Saturday when hit singer James Blunt, known for his self-deprecation on Twitter, threatened to release new music on Spotify in protest if they didn't remove Joe Rogan. As noted, many former Spotify users have been flocking to Apple Music in protest, and the service has become one of the best iPhone features available on Apple's ecosystem since its launch.
