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25th Jan 2022

Neil Young wants Spotify to remove his music because of Joe Rogan podcast

Stephen Porzio

“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” the acclaimed singer wrote.

In a now-deleted open letter posted to his website, Neil Young revealed that he wants all of his music removed from Spotify on account of vaccine “misinformation” shared by Joe Rogan on the service.

“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” Young said in the letter addressed to his management team and record label.

“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.

“Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.

“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE [the Joe Rogan Experience] which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence.

“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.

“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”

Young’s letter comes after Rogan sparked controversy with a number of comments he made on his hugely popular podcast relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In April last year, the podcaster said on the show that while he believes those vulnerable to Covid should be vaccinated and that, “for the most part”, it’s safe to get vaccinated, he doesn’t think younger people should be inoculated.

Meanwhile, this month, 270 doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals signed an open letter calling on Spotify to “take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform”.

The letter accused Rogan of repeatedly spreading “misleading and false claims on his podcast” and particularly took issue with an episode of his show from December which featured Robert Malone, a virologist who has been criticised for spreading vaccine misinformation.

“Dr. Malone used the JRE platform to further promote numerous baseless claims, including several falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines and an unfounded theory that societal leaders have “hypnotised” the public,” the letter read.

“Notably, Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust. These actions are not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous.”

Previously Rogan has told his listeners he was “not an anti-vax person” and that he shouldn’t be considered a source for scientific advice.

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