A couple of days after Neil Young demanded that his music be removed from Spotify, the Swedish music streaming service has obliged and pulled Young's catalog from the platform. The legendary Canadian musician had earlier wanted Spotify to remove his songs because he didn't want to share a platform with controversial podcast host Joe Rogan, who has often been accused of spreading misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

Vaccine misinformation has been rampant in the media over the past year. Anti-vaxxers have been spreading half-truths, lies, and bizarre conspiracy theories about vaccines. Many have even been threatening doctors, healthcare workers, and public policy-makers about their scientific stance on the deadly pandemic. Many celebrities have also been giving voice to vaccine misinformation, and Rogan is one of the more prominent among them.

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As reported by The Washington Post, Spotify's decision to remove Young's music came after the musician posted an open letter on his website to his manager and record label, asking them to remove his songs from Spotify because he did not want to be on the same platform as Joe Rogan. In his letter, which has since been taken down, Young alleged that Rogan's show, The Joe Rogan Experience, has been instrumental in spreading gross misinformation about Covid vaccines, and urged Spotify to reign in such fake information for the sake of public safety. He also said that he doesn't want his music to be on the platform if the service failed to take down Rogan's show. "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both," he wrote.

Neil Young Vs Joe Rogan

spotify joe rogan show

Even though Spotify has complied with Young's request to remove his music from the platform, the company says that it hopes to resolve the issue quickly and have the musician back as soon as possible. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a Spotify spokesperson said that the service continues to host Joe Rogan's show despite all the controversies as it wants to find the right balance between "safety for listeners and freedom for creators." The statement also pointed out that the service has already removed over 20,000 podcast episodes for spreading Covid misinformation since the start of the pandemic.

While Spotify may claim that its decision to keep Rogan on board has to do with free speech, many allege that the decision is entirely motivated by money. The Joe Rogan Experience is Spotify’s most popular podcast and one of the biggest shows in its category in the country. According to The Guardian, the two signed a massive $100 million deal in 2020 for exclusive rights to the show, which reportedly has around 11 million listeners per episode. No wonder then that Spotify chose Joe Rogan over Neil Young, but it remains to be seen how this issue can be resolved in the coming days and weeks.

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Source: The Washington Post, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian