Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young, pulls music from Spotify via Joe Rogan podcast – National

Joni Mitchell said she stood with Neil Young and has decided to remove all her music from streaming giant Spotify.

Earlier this week, Young pulled her music from Spotify after giving the company an ultimatum over concerns about podcaster Joe Rogan spreading false information about COVID-19 vaccines on his show “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

In a statement on her website Friday, Mitchell said she’s acting because “irresponsible people are spreading lies that cost people their lives.”

Mitchell says she also stands with the scientific community on the issue.

On her website, she includes a letter signed by a coalition of scientists, medical professionals, and professors criticizing Spotify for recommending Rogan podcasts that it says include information pandemic bias, including discouraging vaccination among young people and children.

Spotify, which has a multi-year distribution agreement with Rogan, approved Young’s request on Wednesday and within hours began taking down his albums.

“I stand with Neil Young!” Mitchell said in a statement on her website.

“I have decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” reads the statement. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global medical and scientific community on this issue. ”

Despite Young’s move, some of his music can still be heard on Spotify.

In Canada, some of Young’s work, “Cinnamon Girl,” “Old Man,” and his entire new album “Barn,” have disappeared, but many of the other songs featured on the soundtrack and compilation have not.

Mitchell first became known in the 1960s for writing and performing such songs as “The Circle Game”, “Both Sides Now” and “Woodstock”.

She went on to record the influential album “Blue” and over 20 other releases during her career. Although Mitchell, 78, isn’t a celebrity today, the Canadian native’s Spotify page says she already has 3.7 million monthly listeners. Her songs “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You” have both been streamed over 100 million times on the service.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Spotify.

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