Neil Young has posted an open letter to his website directing his management and record label to remove all of his music from Spotify. The letter, viewed by Pitchfork but no longer hosted on Young’s site, was addressed to Young’s manager Frank Gironda and Warner Bros. co-chairman and Chief Operating Officer Tom Corson. Young accuses the streaming platform of “spreading fake information about vaccines—potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.” “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both,” he wrote, referencing the Spotify podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, which doctors have decried for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Young and Spotify for comment.
Last year, Young released two new live albums with companion concert films: 1971’s Young Shakespeare and 1990’s Way Down in the Rust Bucket. Later that summer, he withdrew from Farm Aid 2021 over COVID-19 concerns. In December, he shared a new album with Crazy Horse called Barn.
Read about the sale of Neil Young’s publishing catalog in “What to Know About Music’s Copyright Gold Rush” on the Pitch.
