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Joni Mitchell said on Friday she will be removing her music from Spotify and joining Neil Young in her protest against the streaming service for her role in providing a platform for Covid-19 vaccine misinformation.
Mitchell, a respected singer-songwriter of songs like “Big Yellow Taxi” and landmark album “Blue” celebrates 50th anniversarypublished brief description He said on his website on Friday that he would be removing his music from the streaming service. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that cost people their lives,” he wrote. “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
His statement fuels a small but growing revolt against Spotify, with several major artists speaking out, but fans commenting widely on social media. The discussion also raised questions about how much power artists have to control the distribution of their work, and the always thorny issue of free speech online.
Spotify He downloaded Young’s music on WednesdayTwo days later, he published an open letter in protest to Spotify’s most popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which has been criticized for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.
This is done by a group of hundreds of scientists, professors, and public health experts. asked Spotify On December 31, Rogan, an infectious disease specialist, Dr. To remove an episode of his show featuring Robert Malone. scientists wrote in a public letter He said the program supports “several lies about Covid-19 vaccines”.
Mitchell became the first major artist to follow Young after several days of speculation and rumors on social media.
Young and Mitchell have a deep history together. Both are Canadians who led the singer-songwriter revolution in Southern California in the late 1960s and 1970s.
On Spotify, Mitchell’s two songs “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You” are listed as having 3.7 million monthly listeners and receive over 100 million streams.
While several major artists have raised their voices so far, Young’s stance has resonated widely with fans. Twitter was flooded with announcements from listeners saying they were canceling their subscribers, and Screenshots A message appeared from Spotify’s app stating that it “received too many contacts, so it may be slow to respond” from its customer support team. Spotify did not say how many customers canceled their subscriptions.
While SiriusXM relaunched a Neil Young channel and Apple Music, tech rivals also entered the discussion. call yourself “Neil Young’s house.”
In Declaration Young reiterated his objections to Rogan’s podcast on his website on Friday, taking a look at Spotify’s sound quality. He also said he supports freedom of expression.
“I support free speech. “I have never been in favor of censorship,” he said. “Just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that spreads harmful information, private companies also have the right to choose what they benefit from.”
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