Joni Mitchell has now made her music available on Spotify once again, following her announcement two years ago that she was removing her entire catalog from the streaming service in solidarity with Neil Young, who withdrew his music from the platform in protest of the company’s spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. Young returned to the platform two weeks prior to Mitchell.
Mitchell has not yet publicly commented on her return to the platform but had previously shared a statement announcing that she would be removing her music from Spotify, stating that “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.” While she did not mention the specific podcast, $100 million exclusivity contracted Joe Rogan had with Spotify at the time, she did share a link to the open letter signed by hundreds of medical professionals hitting out at Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Recently, Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features that Neil Young had opposed on Spotify. He has returned to Spotify, stating, “Spotify, the #1 streaming of low res music in the world – Spotify where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again.” Young also explained, “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at Spotify. I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did with Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all.” Rogan’s exclusivity to Spotify has ended, and his podcast has now been picked up by Apple and Amazon.
It’s currently uncertain whether Mitchell’s return to Spotify was influenced by Young’s return and subsequent explanation of his decision. Nonetheless, the reinstatement of her music to Spotify has been welcomed by fans.
Despite the reinstatement of music catalogs, the spread of misinformation about vaccines and other important information remains a significant issue that platforms like Spotify, Apple, and Amazon must work together with the scientific and medical communities to solve
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