Joni Mitchell Joins Neil Young In Pulling Music From Spotify

She cited Young in her explanation

Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell performing at "California Celebrates the Whales" at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California on November 20. 1976.
Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

This week, Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum: it could have his music or it could have Joe Rogan’s podcast, but it couldn’t have both. Young cited Rogan’s penchant for vaccine disinformation as a reason that he was asking the streaming service to remove all of his music; later in the week, Spotify complied with the request.

Now, Young has some company in his protest. Joni Mitchell has also asked for her music to be taken down from Spotify, and she’s cited Young in her explanation of why. Pitchfork reports that Mitchell released a statement on her website on Friday in which she spoke in no uncertain terms about her decision.

“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” Mitchell wrote. “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.”

Mitchell also provided a link to the open letter that numerous scientists and medical professionals have written criticizing Rogan for his comments and those of his guests regarding vaccines.

This decision on Mitchell’s part suggests that there might well be growing momentum behind holding Spotify to task for their decision to work with Rogan. Earlier today, Variety reported that Spotify’s market capitalization had fallen since Young removed his music from the service, even as the NASDAQ composite index rose during the same period.

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