Musician Neil Young threatened to cancel all of his music availability on Spotify, saying the company is "spreading false information about vaccines" because it distributes comedian Joe Rogan's podcast, which has drawn the ire of many critics for pushing various COVID-19-related conspiracy theories.
In a since-deleted open letter, Young accused Spotify of "potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them" and said he did not in good conscience have his music distributed by a company that has played a role in spreading vaccine misinformation.
His letter read, in part:
"Please immediately inform Spotify that I am actively canceling all my music availability on Spotify as soon as possible."
"I am doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule."
"I want you to let Spotify know immediately today that I want all of my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Young's demands come as public health experts urge Spotify to block Rogan, whose podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, is the most-listened to podcast on the audio-streaming service.
A group of more than 260 doctors and health professionals called on Spotify to "implement a misinformation policy," saying Rogan, who has repeatedly railed against COVID-19 vaccines, "has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine."
Spotify has not responded to either these demands but many have praised Young for speaking out, criticized Spotify and Rogan, and expressed their faith in public health experts.
Neil Young has asked Spotify to remove his music from their service, he wrote in a letter to his manager "they can have Joe (Rogan) or Young" and "not both". This is in response to them allowing Joe Rogan to broadcast misinformation about Covid-19. Legend .pic.twitter.com/xNuntWYahH— KeanoTheDog (@KeanoTheDog) 1643073594
Awesome news: @NeilYoung tells @Spotify to remove his music from their service if they continue to air Joe Rogan's lies, disinformation, and BS about #COVID19 and vaccines. Go Neil!https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-demands-spotify-remove-music-vaccine-disinformation-1290020/\u00a0\u2026— Steve Silberman (@Steve Silberman) 1643072512
Do you know how bad you gotta fuck up to get Neil Young to descend from his golden old age and yell at you.https://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— Brandon (@Brandon) 1643074644
They'll choose Rogan, of course, but Neil Young will always be better.https://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— Juliette Kayyem (@Juliette Kayyem) 1643075745
in a world of Eric Claptons, be a Neil Younghttps://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— shauna (@shauna) 1643078410
Neil Young alone may not present enough of a financial incentive to bring about change, but hopefully his stance will inspire a groundswell of other musicians to stand with him and deprive dangerous ignoramuses of a platform.https://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— Jose Molina (@Jose Molina) 1643078900
Neil Young told Spotify that they had to choose between \u201chim or Joe Rogan.\u201d Then, Neil demanded they take his music off of Spotify because they spread vaccine misinformation through Joe Rogan. Bravo, Neil Young! A true patriot!— Uncovering The Truth (@Uncovering The Truth) 1643079903
big Congrats from me to Neil Young on his continued commitment to wrecking some motherfuckers along the wayhttps://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— Scott Wampler\u2122 (@Scott Wampler\u2122) 1643079187
With everything else that\u2019s going on, it\u2019s pretty amazing that Neil Young is trending at the top for just having basic human integrity @Neilyoung #SpotifySuckshttps://twitter.com/rollingstone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— Tara Dublin (@Tara Dublin) 1643131884
Stand for something or you'll fall for anything. Respect @Neilyounghttps://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1485757517523308548\u00a0\u2026— Titus (@Titus) 1643074150
Rogan has refused to listen to public health experts who've stressed that getting vaccinated is the best line of defense against COVID-19, which is continuing to rage across much of the country due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Rogan was forced to cancel a sold out Vancouver show last month, admitting he likely would be denied entry into Canada because he is not vaccinated.
He doubled down, however, on his refusal to get vaccinated and continued to assert that natural immunity from a prior COVID-19 infection is reason enough not to get the shot.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long debunked claims natural immunity is more beneficial than the vaccine.
In fact, a study published in August showed "unvaccinated individuals are more than twice as likely to be reinfected with COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated after initially contracting the virus."
It also pointed out COVID-19 vaccines "offer better protection than natural immunity alone and that vaccines, even after prior infection, help prevent reinfections."
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