India Arie Says She Didn’t Leave Spotify Because Of Joe Rogan

Singer India Arie has clarified that she left Spotify because of its “treatment of artists,” not Joe Rogan.

When Arie pulled her music from Spotify earlier this month, she citied their exclusive hosting of Joe Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reason she had left the platform.

Now, in a new interview with Trever Noah on The Daily Show, Arie has clarified that Spotify’s royalties scheme and business practices are also part of the reason she has left the streaming service.

“My conversation has been about Spotify and it’s treatment of artists.”

“I have to say that asking for my music to be pulled from Spotify in protest doesn’t actually serve me, but I did it in protest just because I felt like my dignity was being … I felt like I was being disrespected,” she said.

Discussing royalty payments artist get from Spotify, Arie explained: “What happens is, they say, ‘Well, this is just how it is; this is just what you get paid. But the labels and streaming platforms are making those decisions.

“You listen [on Spotify], we get .003 to .005 percent of a penny. It’s been making the professions of producer and songwriter unliveable for a lot of people,” she added.

Later in the interview, Arie discussed Rogan’s use of the “n-word” describing the podcaster as “consciously racist.”

“I have learned in my life to make room and forgiveness for people who are unconsciously racist because our whole society is built on racist concepts,” she said.

“I think that [Joe Rogan] is being consciously racist. … The fact that he [said the N-word] repeatedly and was conscious and knew — I think that is being racist.”

“And I don’t like even saying that because I’m a sensitive, old soul, and I want to believe the best in people,” she added.

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