Photo: The Verge
Spotify’s (SPOT-N) streaming platform is removing Neil Young’s music following the singer-songwriter’s refusal to play his songs on the same streaming service that offers Joe Rogan’s podcast, said the firm and the composer on Wednesday.
Young had sent a letter addressed to his manager and Warner Music Group (WMG.O), his record label, earlier this week requesting that Spotify cease to offer his music since Rogan is disseminating COVID-19 vaccine fake news on his podcast.
The Canadian-American singer expressed his gratitude to his record label Wednesday for “standing with me in my decision to pull all my music from Spotify,” and he urged other songsters to do the same thing.
“Spotify has become the home of life threatening COVID misinformation,” said Young on his website. “Lies being sold for money.”
The media service provider said it functions to assess “both safety for listeners and freedom for creators” and has taken down over 20,000 podcast episodes linked with COVID-19 topics in compliance with its “detailed content policies.”
The streaming giant said in a statement, “We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
Rogan, UFC color commentator, hosts “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Spotify’s well-regarded podcast. He bears the exclusive rights to the show.
He has made controversial statements and insights about the pandemic, government mandates, and vaccines to take a hold of the coronavirus outbreak.
270 scientists and medical professionals arranged a letter early this month encouraging Spotify to do something about Rogan, making claims of alleged dissemination of fallacies on the podcast.
Spotify held 60% of his music’s streams to listeners everywhere, said Young. The pull out is “a huge loss for my record company to absorb,” he added.
