Mumford & Sons star Winston Marshall has blasted millionaire artists like Neil Young for risking 'Soviet-style censorship' in the West after they demanded their music be removed from Spotify in a row over Joe Rogan's podcast.
Young and Joni Mitchell are among the singers to distance themselves from the streaming service and its partnership with commentator Rogan, who they accuse of spreading false information about Covid and vaccines via his show, The Joe Rogan Experience.
Now Marshall, who played banjo with Mumford & Sons before quitting last year amid criticism over his praise for a right wing reporter, has waded into the debate.
In a 1,444 word Substack essay, the folk star takes aim at a number of high profile figures 'standing passionately against speech', including the singers quitting Spotify and even the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Mumford & Sons star Winston Marshall has blasted millionaire artists for risking 'Soviet-style censorship' in the West after they demanded their music be removed from Spotify in a row over Joe Rogan's podcast
He wrote: 'Last week, Canadian-American rock god Neil Young made a clarion call against free speech.
'Displeased by The Joe Rogan Experience's Covidian contents, Young demanded that Spotify remove Rogan's podcast—or remove him.
'Days later, Young's music was off the platform, though you can still stream his songs on Apple (ignore their forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang) and on Amazon (but don't read about the company's infamous working conditions in James Bloodworth's book 'Hired.')
'Keep on rocking in the free world, Neil.
'Of course, Spotify is a private company; they're under no obligation to platform anybody.
'So while this campaign doesn't breach Rogan's First Amendment rights, it is a clear stand against the cultural norm of free speech.
'And those standing passionately against speech—a growing list that includes Joni Mitchell, Harry and Meghan, the comedian Stewart Lee, the singer India Arie, and Young's old bandmates, Crosby, Stills and Nash—are all apparently liberals. Strange, that.'
Marshall, the son of Brexit-supporting millionaire Sir Paul Marshall, was attacked on social media last year after tweeting support for US journalist Andy Ngo, calling him a 'brave man' and hailing his 'important' book Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy.
Neil Young (pictured) and Joni Mitchell are among the singers to distance themselves from the streaming service and its partnership with commentator Rogan
After a barrage of tweets accusing him of 'endorsing fascism', the group held crisis talks, after which bandmates Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane, along with their management, reportedly asked Marshall to leave the group.
In his essay, he continued: 'How can any artist possibly create without free speech?
'How are they supposed to be artists if they're scared that making a mistake or taking a risk that another artist doesn't like will get them kicked off the very platform that allows them to share their art in the first place?
'My bandmates in Mumford & Sons got a lot of flack for my tweet. Radio stations threatened to drop us, and I was canceled from DJ-ing a festival because the headliner had publicly condemned me.
'I could have stayed in the band. But it would've meant self-censorship. Or lying. So I left.'
He then told how he'd experienced 'self-censorship' before, claiming a BBC producer insisted prior to a show he was performing in that the accompanying orchestra be 'racially diverse, and so its players would be chosen by their immutable characteristics instead of their merit'.
He went on: 'Did the producers think the non-white musicians were not talented enough to make the grade with their own hard work and talent? I'll never know. Because, to my shame, I self-censored.
'I knew that to challenge this progressive groupthink with liberal ideas—like judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin—would bring unnecessary trouble.'
Rogan (pictured) is accused of spreading false information about Covid and vaccines via his show, The Joe Rogan Experience
Marshall's comments come as Spotify finished 2021 on a high note after reporting a surge in subscribers and advertisers.
In its recently completed quarter, which ended December 31, Spotify reported 406 million monthly active users, up 18 percent from a year earlier, Wall Street Journal reported.
Paying subscribers to the Swedish audio streaming giant also rose 16 percent to 180 million, topping the company's expectations.
Concluding his essay, Marshall wrote: 'Maybe a return to Soviet-style censorship is well on its way. But this time supported by artists in favor of orthodox establishment thought.'
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