OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Neil Young announced he is returning his music to Spotify after previously pulling it in protest over Joe Rogan’s podcast being on the platform.
Young had issued an ultimatum for Spotify to choose between hosting his music or Rogan’s show.
Now Young says other major streamers like Apple and Amazon will also carry Rogan’s podcast, so he can no longer pull his music from just Spotify.
Two years after he pulled all his music from Spotify, Neil Young has announced he's putting his music back on the streaming service. https://t.co/R4Wro2uNMJ pic.twitter.com/tDi2XSwUDl
— ABC News (@ABC) March 13, 2024
“My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at SPOTIFY,” Young wrote.
Young hopes Spotify will improve its sound quality and expand its hi-res offerings to better serve artists and listeners.
“I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did with Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all,” he added. “So I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it.”
“Hopefully Spotify will turn to Hi Res as the answer and serve all the music to everyone,” he said. “Spotify, you can do it! Really be #1 in all ways. You have the music and the listeners!!!! Start with a limited Hi res tier and build from there!”
He had pulled his catalog in January 2022 over alleged COVID misinformation on Rogan’s popular podcast, but will now return to Spotify while still opposing the information spread on that show.
“Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule,” Young said at the time.
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he added. “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.”
“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” the letter read. “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”
“We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID since the start of the pandemic,” Spotify stated.
“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” it added.
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