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Joni Mitchellis taking a stand.
Shortly afterNeil Younghad hismusic removedfromSpotifydue to misinformation aboutCOVID-19, Mitchell, 78, announced on her website that she would be removing her discography from the music streaming service for the time being as well.
“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” the “Help Me” singer said in astatementFriday. “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,” she added.
Newsweekreported that theJoe Rogan Experiencesees an “estimated 11 million people” tune in for each episode, though Spotify has not officially unveiled exactly how many users subscribe to the podcast overall. Spotify, according to theLos Angeles Times, reportedly paid about $100 million to acquire theJoe Rogan Experience.
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Earlier this week, Young, 76, reportedly demanded his management team and record label give Spotify an ultimatum between his music and Rogan’s podcast, posting an open letter to hiswebsiteMonday that appears to have since been deleted.
“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,” Young added, according to the outlets.
Representatives for Spotify and Rogan, 54, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s prior request for comment.
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Not long after,Spotify confirmed it would be removing Young’s songsfrom the platform for the time being.
“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users,” a spokesperson for Spotify said in a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday. “With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators.”
“We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic,” the statement continued. “We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
A day later, Youngposted an additional letter on his websitecalling out Rogan’s podcast once more. He wrote, in part, “Most of the listeners hearing the unfactual, misleading and false COVID information on Spotify are 24 years old, impressionable and easy to swing to the wrong side of the truth.”
“These young people believe Spotify would never present grossly unfactual information. They unfortunately are wrong,” Young added. “I knew I had to try to point that out.”
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source: people.com
