Young posts open letter to label and management
Neil Young has demanded that Spotify remove his music from its platform due to “fake information” regarding the spread of COVID-19 vaccinations on The Joe Rogan Experience. Young has posted an open letter to his manager Frank Gironda and Warner Record label co-chairman Tom Corson, demanding they act immediately.
“Please immediately inform Spotify that I am actively canceling all my music availability on Spotify as soon as possible,” he writes in a letter that has since been removed from his website.
“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule. I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all of my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
As of this writing, his music is still available on the platform and Spotify has not commented on the matter. In 2015, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer pulled his music from Spotify and other streaming sites due to the low quality of streaming audio. He returned his songs in 2016.
Last month, 270 doctors, scientists and educators signed a letter demanding that Spotify implement a misinformation policy due to Rogan’s vaccination claims. The letter reads, “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine. He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are ‘gene therapy,’ promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. In episode #1757, Rogan hosted Dr. Robert Malone, who was suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Dr. Malone used the JRE platform to further promote numerous baseless claims, including several falsehoods about COVID-19 vaccines and an unfounded theory that societal leaders have ‘hypnotized’ the public. Many of these statements have already been discredited. Notably, Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust. These actions are not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous.”
The letter continues, “With an essential 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence. Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”
