After Neil Young, Joni Mitchell pulls music from Spotify over Joe Rogan

Spotify’s biggest podcaster is costing it more and more musicians who oppose the spread of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation. After Neil Young announced that the platform would have to choose between his music or Joe Rogan’s podcast, which he accused of spreading misinformation, the singer’s catalogue was pulled from the streaming service.

Now, Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has followed suit, removing her music from Spotify.

Mitchell’s move came after #SpotifyDeleted started trending on Twitter, with legions of fans claiming to quit the streaming service over Young’s exit. Shares of Spotify also fell, amid a global dip in markets. Rogan did not respond to Young’s defiant stance, but Spotify did.

“We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” the platform said in a statement.

Spotify signed a $100 million deal in 2020 to have Joe Rogan’s popular podcast episodes hosted exclusively on its platform.

But over time, Rogan’s podcast began hosting episodes questioning conventional scientific advice on Covid-19 management: From advocating the use of ivermectin (which Rogan himself took after contracting Covid) to questioning the efficacy of vaccines and inviting guests who do the same.

Rogan’s approach has earned him brickbats from medical professionals, with WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeting a link to a story about Young’s ultimatum to Spotify, commentnig, “@NeilYoungNYA, thanks for standing up against misinformation and inaccuracies around #COVID19 vaccination. Public and private sector, in particular #socialmedia platforms, media, individuals - we all have a role to play to end this pandemic and infodemic.”

Some musicians have taken a humourous stance on the situation. Rather than threatening to remove his music from the platform, singer James Blunt warned that he would add to it. “If @spotify

doesn’t immediately remove @joerogan, I will release new music onto the platform. #youwerebeautiful”.