Spotify hopes Young will reconsider
Spotify will honor Neil Young’s request to remove his music from its platform over “fake information” regarding the spread of COVID-19 vaccinations on The Joe Rogan Experience. Spotify has released a statement stating they hope Young’s decision is not permanent.
“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users,” the company says. “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, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
His music is expected to be removed from the platform by the end of the week.
On Monday (Jan 24th), Young shared an open letter to his team demanding the streaming giant remove either his music of Rogan’s podcast, which has been under fire for the “spread of misinformation” regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.
“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,” he wrote earlier this week.
In a lengthy statement released on the heels of Spotify’s announcement, Young thanks his label for their support, although his contract doesn’t give him control of the recordings.
“Thank you Warner Brothers for standing with me and taking the hit – losing 50% of my world wide streaming income in the name of Truth,” he writes on his website. “Spotify has become the home of life threatening COVID misinformation. Lies being sold for money.”
He also credits his partners at Hipgnosis, which he sold half of of his publishing to last year, for their support.
“My deal with Merck Mercuriadis and Hipgnosis began on January 1, 2021,” he shares on another statement on his website. “The company Hipgnosis now has part of my publishing and I am very happy with their support. I want to personally thank Merck and Hipgnosis for standing with me. Losing 60% of worldwide streaming income by leaving Spotify is a very big deal, a costly move, but worth it for our integrity and our beliefs. Misinformation about COVID is over the line.”
This is’t the first time the singer/songwriter has removed his music from Spotify or other streaming platforms. In 2015, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer pulled his music from streamers due to the low quality of streaming audio. He returned his songs in 2016.
