Joni Mitchell has publicly backed Neil young by also removing her music catalogue from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan spreading vaccine misinformation on the platform.
In case you missed the drama unfold, Neil Young sparked conversation around Spotify and its complacency around spreading misinformation about vaccines earlier this week.
To combat this, Young announced he would be removing his music from the platform. In his letter of intention, he specifically mentions Joe Rogan and his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
“You can have [Joe] Rogan, or Young. Not both,” the singer wrote.
In 2020, the podcast made an exclusive deal with Spotify reported to be worth $100 million.
“I realised I could not continue to support Spotify’s life-threatening misinformation to the music-loving public,” wrote Young.
“Before I told my friends at Warner Bros about my desire to leave the Spotify platform, I was reminded by my own legal forces that contractually I did not have the control of my music to do that. I announced I was leaving anyway, because I knew I was.”
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“I was prepared to do all I could and more just to make sure that happened. I want to thank my truly great and supportive record company Warner Brothers – Reprise Records, for standing with me in my decision to pull all my music from Spotify. Thank you!”
Now, fellow artists – including Joni Mitchell – have come up in support of Young’s decision.
In her statement today, Mitchell referred to both Young’s letter and the petition posted and backed by 270 scientists, professors, and medical professionals who shared an open letter with Spotify on New Years Eve requesting for the streaming giant to implement a misinformation policy.
“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” the ‘Help Me’ singer wrote.
“Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
Spotify said in a statement on Wednesday in regards to Young’s ultimatum: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic.”
“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify,” the service added, “but hope to welcome him back soon.”
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