Neil Young has demanded Spotify remove all of his music from the streaming platform in anger at Joe Rogan's controversial Covid claims.
The Heart of Gold hitmaker, 76, is furious about the vaccine misinformation the American podcaster is spreading in his show, The Joe Rogan Experience, which is currently one of the most popular podcasts in the world.
Young wrote an open letter to his manager Frank Gironda and record label Warner Records, which was later taken down, and he expressed concern over Rogan’s anti-vaccine and Covid-sceptic claims.
“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” he wrote in reference to the streaming service.
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” Young continued, as he accused Spotify of “spreading fake information about vaccines” due to their $100 million deal with Rogan.
“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE [the Joe Rogan Experience] which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world's largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” he added.
“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”
Spotify has yet to comment on Young’s claim in his letter, which was posted to his website before being removed.
Rogan has caused controversy due to his stance on the Covid-19 pandemic, and once alleged the deadly virus could be treated with the drug ivermectin, which is more commonly used to help de-worm horses.
Young’s manager Gironda confirmed the letter was authentic, and told The Daily Beast that taking a stand against anti-vaccine supporters such as Rogan was “important” to the singer-songwriter.
“It’s something that’s really important to Neil. He’s very upset … we’re trying to figure this out right now,” he said.
Young isn’t the first person to openly raise concerns with the opinions and claims made in Rogan’s podcast.
In December, 270 doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals published a letter to the streaming service demanding that Spotify introduce a policy for dealing with “misinformation” surrounding the global health pandemic.
