Neil Young has a message for Spotify: Either Joe Rogan goes or he goes.
What You Need To Know
- Neil Young posted on his website Monday a now-deleted letter to his management company and Warner Music Group ordering them to remove his music from Spotify
- The folk-rock legend cited his concerns about the audio streaming platform allowing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to spread
- The “Heart of Gold” singer took aim at Rogan, the host of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast
- Earlier this month, 270 doctors, health care workers and public health experts sent a letter to Spotify calling on it to set a misinformation policy, citing “misleading and false claims,” made on Rogan’s popular podcast
The folk-rock legend posted on his website Monday a now-deleted letter to his management company and Warner Music Group ordering them to remove his music from Spotify over his concerns about the audio streaming platform allowing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to spread.
“I am doing this because SPOTIFY is spreading false information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young, 76, wrote. “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 my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
The “Heart of Gold” singer took aim at Rogan, the host of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
Earlier this month, 270 doctors, health care workers and public health experts sent a letter to Spotify calling on it to set a misinformation policy, citing “misleading and false claims,” made on Rogan’s popular podcast — a show exclusively hosted by Spotify.
The group called on the company to mitigate “mass-misinformation events,” such as a recent episode of Rogan’s show that included an interview with Dr. Robert Malone, who was removed from Twitter for false, anti-vaccine statements and has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust.
“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, 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,” the letter said.
The health professionals also mentioned several of Rogan’s claims that they take issue with, including his discouragement of vaccinations for young people and children, his promotion of the parasite medication ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment and various other conspiracy theories.
Young’s management company and Spotify did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Rogan’s podcast remains on Spotify. Young’s music was also still on the platform as of Tuesday.
“The Joe Rogan Experience” is the top podcast in the United States, according to Spotify, reaching an estimated 11 million listeners per episode.
