Spotify to remove Neil Youngs music over his objections to Joe Rogan’s podcast

Spotify has decided to take down Canadian-American singer Neil Young’s music from its platform, days after the veteran rocker demanded the same in protest of Joe Rogan spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine on his podcast that he streamed on the platform.

Spotify, in a statement on Wednesday, said that it regretted Young’s decision, “but hope to welcome him back soon.”

It wasn’t clear when his music will actually be taken down.

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On Monday, Neil Young wrote an open letter to his manager and label, asking them to remove his music from the Swedish audio streaming platform.

“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,” he wrote in the letter.

“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both,” he added.

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But the letter soon disappeared from view on Young’s website, and on Tuesday afternoon music fans could still listen to Young’s hits on Spotify. The 76-year-old rocker’s music has more than 6 million listeners.

Rogan’s interview with Dr. Robert Malone on his podcast caused a furor. Malone, an infectious disease specialist, has been banned for Twitter for spreading misinformation but has become a hero in the anti-vaccine community.

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Spotify said in a statement on Thursday that “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.”

With inputs from The Associated Press