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Earlier this week, Young had released a letter
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/neil-young-spotify-either-remove-my-music-or-joe-rogan-podcast-2022-01-25
addressed to his manager and record label, Warner Music Group,
demanding that Spotify no longer carry his music because he said
Rogan spreads misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
On Wednesday, the "Heart of Gold" and "Rocking In the Free
World" singer thanked his record label for "standing with me in
my decision to pull all my music from Spotify," and he
encouraged other musicians to do the same.
"Spotify has become the home of life threatening COVID
misinformation," he said on his website. "Lies being sold for
money."
The Swedish company said it worked to balance "both safety for
listeners and freedom for creators" and had removed more than
20,000 podcast episodes related COVID-19 in accordance with its
"detailed content policies."
"We regret Neil's decision to remove his music from Spotify, but
hope to welcome him back soon," Spotify said in a statement.
Rogan, 54, is the host of "The Joe Rogan Experience," the
top-rated podcast on Spotify, which holds exclusive rights to
the program.
He has stirred controversy with his views on the pandemic,
government mandates and vaccines to control the spread of the
coronavirus.
Earlier this month, 270 scientists and medical professionals
signed a letter urging Spotify to take action against Rogan,
accusing him of spreading falsehoods on the podcast.
Young, 76, said Spotify accounted for 60% of the streaming of
his music to listeners around the world. The removal is "a huge
loss for my record company to absorb," he said.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles
and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and
Alistair Bell)
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