Neil Young is bringing his music back to Spotify after a two year gap.
The songwriter objected to the streaming platform signing an exclusive deal with controversial broadcaster Joe Rogan, pulling his music from Spotify in 2022. The podcaster had been accused of peddling false information about the COVID vaccine, with Neil Young deciding to remove his work as a point of protest.
In a note at the time, Neil Young called Joe Rogan “the home of life-threatening Covid misinformation. Selling lies for money … They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
A spokesperson for Spotify commented at the time: “We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
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From February this year, Joe Rogan’s podcasts are no longer exclusive to Spotify, following a new multi-platform deal with Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Amazon Music. Recognising this, Neil Young has published a new statement on his site, explaining that his Spotify boycott is no longer sustainable.
He writes:
“My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify. I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all, so I have returned to Spotify.”
Neil Young is a long time opponent of the sound quality used by streaming companies, and the statement contains a note of criticism on this point. He writes: “the #1 streamer of low res music in the world – Spotify where you get less quality than we made … I hope all you millions of Spotify users enjoy my songs! They will now all be there for you except for the full sound we created.”
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