Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young, ditches Spotify: 'Irresponsible people are spreading lies'
Her songs 'Big Yellow Taxi' and 'A Case of You' have both been streamed more than 100 million times on the service
Joni Mitchell is joining Neil Young in his protest against Spotify, declaring on Friday that she is seeking to remove all of her music from the streaming service.
Young this week railed against Spotify for airing Joe Rogan's podcast. He claimed Rogan is spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
Mitchell, who like Young is a California-based songwriter who had much of her success in the 1970s, is the first prominent musician to join Young's effort.
"Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," Mitchell said Friday in a message posted on her website. "I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue."
NEIL YOUNG'S SPOTIFY BOYCOTT OVER JOE ROGAN CONTENT BACKED BY WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL
Joni Mitchell said Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, she seeks to remove all of her music in Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, who ignited a protest against the streaming service for airing a podcast that featured a figure who has spread misinformation abo (John Shearer/Invision/AP / AP Newsroom)
Following Young's action this week, Spotify said it had policies in place to remove misleading content from its platform and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
But the service has said nothing about Rogan, whose podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" is the centerpiece of the controversy. Last month Rogan interviewed on his podcast Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease specialist who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation.
Rogan is one of the streaming service's biggest stars, with a contract that could earn him more than $100 million.
Spotify said it will grant the veteran rocker's request to remove his music from its streaming platform. (Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP / AP Newsroom)
Young had called on other artists to support him following his action. While Mitchell, 78, is not a current hitmaker, the Canadian native's Spotify page said she had 3.7 million monthly listeners to her music. Her songs "Big Yellow Taxi" and "A Case of You" have both been streamed more than 100 million times on the service.
In a message on his website Friday, Young said that "when I left Spotify, I felt better."
"Private companies have the right to choose what they profit from, just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that disseminates harmful information," he wrote. "I am happy and proud to stand in solidarity with the front line health care workers who risk their lives every day to help others."
SPOTIFY TO REMOVE NEIL YOUNG'S SONGS AFTER JOE ROGAN ULTIMATUM
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Spotify.
Brand expert Eric Schiffer told Fox Business in an interview this week that the removal of Young's music will hurt him much more than Spotify.
Neil Young claimed Rogan had been spreading false information about COVID-19 vaccines on his exclusive Spotify podcast. (Getty Images)
"You're not going to see a significant carnage fall Spotify from this choice," Schiffer said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
"In many ways, I think the negative impact is largely going to go to Young because it decimates a significant part of his royalty strain and also alienates from many on the right who look at this as another out-of-touch liberal trying to shut down free speech in America."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.