Joni Mitchell latest to pull music from Spotify: ‘I stand in solidarity with Neil Young’

Canadian music legend Joni Mitchell is the latest artist to announce she intends on removing her music from Spotify’s music streaming service.

Mitchell issued a statement on Friday.

“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” Mitchell wrote. “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”

This week, Canadian Neil Young severed ties with Spotify after giving them an ultimatum, saying they must remove his music from the service if they continued to allow podcaster Joe Rogan to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine on his show.

Mitchell penned an open letter to Spotify, criticizing the music streaming provider for uploading “a highly controversial episode featuring guest Dr. Robert Malone.”

“The episode has been criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories and the JRE has a concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mitchell writes.

“… Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine. He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are ‘gene therapy,’ promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.”

Spotify, which has a multi-year distribution agreement with Rogan, granted Young’s request on Wednesday and began taking down his albums within hours.

Since Monday, when Young first posted about Spotify on his website, shares of the streaming service have lost nearly seven per cent of their value on the New York Stock Exchange.

Last week, 270 doctors, scientists, healthcare professionals and professors in the United States penned an open letter to Spotify, voicing concern over medical misinformation on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. The letter asks the music streaming platform to “establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation.”

Spotify has faced unrelated criticism from artists and music producers, including Taylor Swift and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, due to its lack of compensation. They both withdrew their music from the service.

With files from David Friend of The Canadian Press