Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young asking Spotify to remove her songs over Covid row
Joni Mitchell has joined Neil Young and asked Spotify to remove all of her discography following a row with podcaster Joe Rogan over Covid misinformation.
“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” the author of ‘Both Sides Now’ and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ said on her website last night. “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.”
Even though she didn’t mention Rogan’s name, Mitchell linked an open letter which was signed by scientists and medical professionals.
The letter has called on Spotify to end Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, as it is accused of spreading Covid misinformation and conspiracy theories.
“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. “We are calling on Spotify to take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform.”
The letter posted on Mitchell’s website resembled the one sent on Monday by Neil Young to his manager and record label, CityAM reported.
“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, [The Joe Rogan Experience], which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” Young’s letter read.
“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”