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“I support free speech,” Young’s post says. “I have never been in favor of censorship. Private companies have the right to choose what they profit from, just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that disseminates harmful information.”
On Friday, Young posted a note on his site underlining his stance.
“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” Mitchell said Friday in a brief post on her website. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
Joni Mitchell performing with blues legend B.B. King. Big Yellow Taxi, Help Me and A Case of You are three of her widely celebrated songs.
Read more: Spotify faces backlash after Neil Young pulls music over Joe Rogan COVID misinformation
Spotify didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In her post, Mitchell, the artist behind songs like Big Yellow Taxi, Help Me and A Case of You, included a link to that same letter. It calls out an episode of Rogan’s podcast that featured virologist and vaccine skeptic Dr. Robert Malone, points to a critical post about Malone on fact-checking site PolitiFact, and urges Spotify to establish a policy on misinformation.
“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions,” the letter says, “Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals.”
In 2020, Spotify made its service the exclusive home of Rogan’s podcast after signing a licensing deal that The Wall Street Journal reported was worth more than 0 million.
