Joni Mitchell Joins Neil Young In Dumping Spotify As Protest Grows

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Joni Mitchell joined Neil Young in pulling her music off of Spotify in protest of the platform featuring COVID misinformer Joe Rogan.

The legendary singer/songwriter said in a statement, “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. 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.”

The protest was started by Neil Young who pulled his music from Spotify because the service was spreading lies and misinforming people about COVID by exclusively hosting Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Young and Mitchell were both inspired by a letter from 270 medical experts decrying the spread of COVID misinformation on Rogan’s podcast to listeners who have an average age of 24.

It would be great to see more current top-selling artists make the same commitment to abandon Spotify, but that is unlikely to happen. The music industry was on the brink of collapse before streaming. Record companies are thriving, but artists are not. Musicians make about a half of a cent per stream, which for legends like Young and Mitchell adds up fast, but streaming also makes up 83% of all music sales revenue so the odds that top-selling artists and labels will join Young and Mitchell are slim.

Most importantly, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have informed millions of people of the role of Spotify in spreading COVID misinformation.

Their actions have led to users canceling their accounts:

As the daughter of someone radicalized against the Covid vax by Joe Rogan et al: Bye, @Spotify #Spotifydeleted pic.twitter.com/TDVx7Gpz8Q

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 27, 2022

Corporations won’t hold Spotify accountable, but each user can by deleting their account and not coming back until the COVID misinformation is off of the platform.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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