Spotify Chooses Free Speech over Neil Young's Demands, Removes Music Library after Joe Rogan Ultimatum

Spotify Chooses Free Speech over Neil Young's Demands, Removes Music Library after Joe Rogan Ultimatum


Neil Young’s musical library will be removed from streaming giant Spotify’s streaming service after setting an ultimatum with the platform.

On Monday, the Canadian rocker released a since-removed open letter to his manager and label demanding that his music be removed from the service, claiming that Rogan and his podcast were a source of vaccine misinformation.

“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 my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both With an estimated 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,” Young wrote.

Jack Posobiec aptly pointed out that Young’s influence is greatly diminished: “Neil Young picking a fight with Rogan and losing is an example of Gen X is slowly unseating the Baby Boomer generation in terms of socio-political influence.”

Rogan and Spotify struck a deal in 2020, giving the platform exclusivity rights over the world’s most popular podcast.

The request could take several hours to reflect on the site.


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