Joni Mitchell to remove music from Spotify over Joe Rogan controversy

A second music icon has cut ties with Spotify in protest of the platform continuing to produce Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast.

Joni Mitchell has backed Neil Young in his boycott of Spotify after the streaming service refused to stop producing Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast.

The legendary songwriter vowed to remove her catalogue from Spotify in solidarity with Young, whose music was dropped from the service after he wrote a letter demanding Spotify choose between him and Rogan.

Rogan has been repeatedly criticised for peddling Covid-19 vaccine misinformation in his popular podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience.

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Young’s letter was posted to his website last week after 270 medical experts similarly backed a petition for Spotify to implement a misinformation policy in response to contentious claims aired on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.

In her statement today, Mitchell referred to both Young’s letter and the petition.

The iconic musician said she “stands in solidarity with Neil Young”. Picture: AFP.

“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” the Help Me singer 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.”

Last week, Young declared: “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” with Spotify rejecting the challenge.

Spotify said in a statement on Wednesday: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic.”

“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify,” the service added, “but hope to welcome him back soon.”

Neil Young removed his music from Spotify in protest of Covid-19 misinformation. Picture: AP.

Young wasn’t bluffing, with the only songs now available on Spotify either on compilation albums or from former bands including Crazy Horse; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; and Buffalo Springfield.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the musician’s stance, thanking him for “standing up against misinformation and inaccuracies around COVID-19 vaccination” on Twitter.

Rogan’s podcast has been denounced for spreading misinformation about Covid-19 throughout the pandemic, with doctors and scientists taking action after he aired hours of interviews with Covid sceptics including a three-hour discussion with US cardiologist Dr McCullough which racked up over 40 million views in its first week in December.

Rogan moved his podcast to the streaming service in late 2021.