Spotify is banning Neil Young’s music after he forced the music streaming service to choose between him and Joe Rogan; Rogan was chosen by Spotify. The 76-year-old artist accused Spotify of promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines through its most popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, in a now-deleted letter on his website. Young, who has a long history of political action, accused Spotify of profiteering off COVID-19 falsehoods and demanded that his entire music collection or Rogan’s podcast series be removed.
“I want you to notify Spotify TODAY that I want all of my songs removed from their platform,” the letter stated. “They have the option between Rogan and Young.” “Neither.” “With an estimated 11 million listeners every episode, JRE is the world’s largest podcast and has great influence,” it continues. JRE is only hosted on Spotify. “Spotify has a responsibility to prevent the spread of disinformation on its platform, despite the fact that the firm has no misinformation policy at the moment.”
Spotify said it was deleting Young’s music from its site in a statement to the Wall Street Journal, adding, “We regret Neil’s decision to withdraw his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.” This comes after 270 experts, scientists, and healthcare professionals signed an open letter urging Spotify to act in response to Rogan’s “hazardous” COVID falsehoods. In 2020, Rogan reportedly struck a $100 million exclusivity contract with Spotify.
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, Rogan has chastised for distributing false information to his millions of listeners. Rogan has been chastised for promoting Dr. Robert Malone, a controversial virologist who was involved in the development of mRNA vaccine technology but has since spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Malone suggested in a December 31, 2021 episode that the COVID-19 epidemic was similar to the “mass formation insanity” experienced during the advent of the Nazis in Germany in the 1920s.
Dr. Malone, who has used his credentials to become a spokesperson for the anti-vaxx movement, has previously claimed that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna, may actually make SARS-CoV-2 more dangerous, and that the Pfizer vaccine was not fully approved. Both of these assertions are untrue and deceptive. Spotify has stated that it is committed to “offering accurate vaccine information” to its users and that it supports COVID-19 vaccine education and advocacy.
Nonetheless, it looks that the streaming behemoth has sided with Rogan and his 11 million weekly listeners. Young has since responded to Spotify’s recent move with a follow-up letter. On Wednesday, Young wrote on his website that Spotify has “become the home of life-threatening COVID disinformation.” Lies are being sold for a profit.” He thanked his record label for their help, but admitted that they would lose 60% of his streaming music revenue. He further chastised Spotify for selling “the lowest quality in music reproduction” and urged other musicians to abandon the service.
