TechThe singer-songwriter – who recently was feted at the Kennedy Center Honors – said on her website Friday that she stands with fellow Canadian-born artist Neil Young in wanting her music removed from streaming service Spotify.
Spotify on Friday took down Young’s music after the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee asked that his music be removed if the service would continue to have podcast host Joe Rogan on the platform.
Young criticized Spotify for having “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast on the service, saying in the letter that has since been removed online, “Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.”
The musicians’ action comes after nearly 300 doctors, physicians and science educators earlier this month signed an open letter calling on Spotify to stop spreading Rogan’s commentary and “moderate misinformation on its platform.”
Availability of music on Spotify is up to the artists (or representatives) and / or their labels. Music missing can be a decision of one of them. Music missing can also be related to a licensing problem. Licensing rules are not the same from a country to another.
The classic rocker is sticking to his principles, but he’s got a backup plan.
Neil Young has never been quiet about his hatred of streaming, Big Tech, or the digitization of the music experience in general. But the veteran rocker escalated the crusade earlier this week, when he posted (and then deleted) a letter on his website asking his manager and an executive at his label, Warner Bros., to pull his entire catalog from Spotify. Artists have long criticized the streaming platform for not compensating musicians fairly, but Young cited a different reason for his action: Joe Rogan. The most popular podcaster in the world has been trafficking in COVID misinformation and promoting quack treatments on his show throughout the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci has pushed back against Rogan’s snake oil, and earlier this month, 270 global health professionals signed an open letter countering the COVID misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience. Neil Young, however, is the first major artist to strike back against Spotify’s continued platforming of Rogan by weaponizing his catalog. As of this writing, Young’s music is no longer available to stream on Spotify, with the exception of some scattered compilation features as well as the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young catalog.
In the wake of both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell leaving Spotify, the audio streaming platform’s stock has plummeted about 25%, Loudwire has reported.
Other outlets are reporting that “Spotify loses $4 billion in market value following Neil Young controversy.”
Mitchell is known for her songs “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You”, both of which have been streamed more than 100 million times on Spotify.
Young’s decision to pull his music from Spotify was motivated in part by its hosting of the Joe Rogan Experience. In an open letter to his manager and record label, Young singled out Rogan.
Spotify pulled the plug on its customer service “live” support on Wednesday as it was apparently flooded with complaints.
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