NEW YORK ( Associated Press) – Joni Mitchell said Friday she is seeking to remove all her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, who ignited a protest against the streaming service. For broadcasting a podcast that featured a man spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
Mitchell, who likes Young, a California-based songwriter who enjoyed most of his success in the 1970s, is the first major musician to join Young’s effort.
“Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing lives,” Michelle said in a message posted on her website on Friday. “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
Following Young’s action this week, Spotify said it has policies in place to remove deceptive content from its platform and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
But the service said nothing about comedian Joe Rogan, whose podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” is the focus of controversy. Last month Rogan interviewed on his podcast Dr Robert Malone, an infectious disease expert who has been banned on Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation.
Rogan is one of the streaming service’s biggest stars, with a contract that could earn him over $100 million.
Young called on other artists to support him after his action. While Michelle, 78, is not a current hitmaker, the Canadian-born Spotify page said she had 3.7 million monthly listeners for her music. His songs “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You” have both been streamed over 100 million times on the service.
In a message on his website on Friday, Young said that “when I left Spotify, I felt better.”
“Private companies have the right to choose what benefits them, just as I can choose not to support my music on a platform that disseminates harmful information,” he wrote. . “I am happy and proud to stand in solidarity with the frontline health care workers who risk their lives every day to help others.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Spotify.
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