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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Louise Lavigueur

Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young in demanding Spotify remove her music over anti-vax row

Joni Mitchell has demanded Spotify take down her music unless they pull the plug on podcaster Joe Rogan saying the streaming service is allowing ''irresponsible people to spread lies that were costing lives''.

The Big Yellow Taxi singer, 78, called for her catalogue of hits to be removed unless they drop controversial The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

The music legend said she's standing in solidarity with Neil Young who also demanded his music was removed.

Spotify took down Young's catalogue of hits and the service responded saying it 'regretted' the musician's decision and hoped to welcome him back soon.

A statement on Joni's official website reads: "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 hit maker was citing the specific calls from the medical community who penned an open letter after airing The Joe Rogan Experience, released on December 31 2021 in which 'baseless conspiracy theories' were promoted.

Joni Mitchell accused the streaming service of allowing 'irresponsible views which could cost lives" (Getty Images for NARAS)

"By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals," the letter signer by 270 experts and medical professionals said.

The calls comes as rival streaming service Apple Music made a dig at Spotify by bragging that it was 'the home of Neil Young'.

A day after Spotify announced that it will comply with Young's demand to remove his records from the sharing platform, Apple Music tweeted on Thursday night: 'The home of Neil Young. Listen to his entire catalogue on Apple Music.'

Neil Young demanded his music was removed with Spotify saying it 'regretted' his departure and hoped to have him back soon (AFP via Getty Images)

On Apple Music's app, the streaming service went out of its way to tout Young's playlists and albums under the banner 'We Love Neil.'

Spotify acquired The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, reportedly for more than 100 million dollars (£77million) and has an estimated 11million listeners per episode.

Stand-up comedian Rogan, 54, has previously attracted controversy for suggesting the young and healthy should not get vaccinated.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Spotify also said it had “detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes relating to Covid since the start of the pandemic".

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