Why Neil Young's Spotify standoff matters to the music industry

Spotify will remove Neil Young's music from its streaming platform, because the 76-year-old rock icon objected to the company's response to vaccine misinformation.

The big picture: This matters more than you'd think, given the popularity of old music.

70% of the music streamed online is older than 18 months, according to MRC Data's 2021 year-end report.

Yes, but: Many of the big new releases of 2021 were dropped because tour dates got COVID-canceled, Matt Yazge, vice president of research business for MRC Data, tells Axios.

61% of U.S. music listeners say that they are interested in discovering new or emerging music artists, Yazge says.