India.Arie in Battle with Label to Pull Music Off Spotify | lovebscott.com

India.Arie in Battle with Label to Pull Music Off Spotify

It’s been close to three weeks since Neil Young announced his plan to remove his music from Spotify due to the platform’s ongoing support for Joe Rogan as he spread “false information about vaccines.”

via: Revolt

Earlier this week, the “Video” singer told Don Lemon that she thought Rogan “did a fine job with his apology” and that what stuck out to her the most was when the comedian said “it’s not my word to use.”

Arie initially took to Instagram to announce that she was removing her music from Spotify, following their support of Rogan.

The process, however, has not been simple for the neo-soul songstress. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Arie called the music industry “abusive” and said since her masters are involved with two different labels — Universal Motown and BMG — it’s been difficult.

“My first five projects were with Universal, and predictably, [when I asked to take down my music], they told me no,” Arie revealed. “So now we’re in a legal conversation. Basically what they’re saying is, ‘we don’t care if this guy is doing this, we don’t care about your dignity, the answer’s no.’”

“My other label has been a godsend after 17 years on that type of major label. BMG sent an email right back saying, ‘we always support the artist, let’s get it done,’” Arie continued. “So I’ve seen both sides. But I fully expected Universal Motown to do what they’re doing. So I’m still in this conversation about how to get music off.”

The Grammy award-winning artist also mentioned that she has spoken with Spotify’s Artist Relations team. “We had a little talk. But it felt like there’s no more talking that needed to be done,” Arie explained. “They said I can call back whenever I want. But I don’t need warm fuzzy talk. I want to see what I can do, and if there’s any systemic change that can happen. If they can make changes for me, they can make changes for other artists like me.”

As REVOLT reported, the website JRE Missing noticed Spotify has deleted a total of 113 “The Joe Rogan Experience” episodes out of more than 1,700.

Good luck to Ms. Arie.

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