Ava DuVernay’s production company Array has cut ties with Spotify, The New York Times reports.
The decision comes just a year after Array signed an exclusive, multiyear deal with Spotify to produce podcasts. No projects were released, but several scripted and unscripted series had been in development.
Neither DuVernay nor Array has given a reason for the split, and Spotify has not offered comment. But the A Wrinkle in Time director joins a growing list of artists who have exited the streaming giant in recent weeks, ever since Neil Young called out the company for spreading COVID-19 misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience. Since Young’s music was removed, many artists have either followed suit or offered their support to Rogan, and #CancelSpotify trended on Twitter.
Related Video
However, some entertainers have been less motivated by Rogan’s vaccine skepticism than his long history of racist language. After a clip of Rogan using the N-word dozens of times went viral, Spotify removed over 70 episodes of his podcast. Rogan has called the backlash a “political hit job.”
Spotify is continuing to support Rogan, no doubt in part because they’ve spent so much money on him. According to the Times, Spotify’s deal with Joe Rogan was worth $200 million, despite earlier reports that he was being paid $100 million.
Earlier this year, DuVernay’s new series set in the Arrowverse, Naomi, debuted on The CW.
[flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_title” class=”fl-input” title=”Title” value=”” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”category” title=”Select category”][flexi-form-tag type=”tag” title=”Insert tag”][flexi-form-tag type=”article” class=”fl-textarea” title=”Description” ][flexi-form-tag type=”file” title=”Select file” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”submit” name=”submit” value=”Submit Now”] [/flexi-form]
Tagged: Alternative Music, Ava Duvernay, music blog, NEWS, Pop Culture, Spotify