(NewsWorthy.news) – Canadian musician Neil Young has announced his return to Spotify two years after the platform removed his music amid a widely publicized controversy.
On Tuesday March 12, the singer songwriter shared his plans to bring his content back to the platform—which cut all his music in January 2022 when he gave an ultimatum and demanded Spotify choose either his content or that of the popular yet controversial podcaster Joe Rogan.
Young had been up in arms about comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience related to the COVID-19 vaccine, which he claimed were false information and pulled all his music from the platform in a boycott. Rogan, who has been outspoken about his concerns that the shots are unsafe, especially for young people, is Spotify’s number one podcast host.
Despite his decision to return to the platform, Young threw additional shade at the streaming service by calling it the “#1 streamer of low res [sic] music” and as hosting “less quality than we made.” He explained via a statement that he is returning to Spotify because other platforms like Apple and Amazon music are home to what he described as similar “disinformation podcast features” that sparked his removal in the first place.
Young added that, if he were to boycott all the streaming services where his music can be heard, he would virtually eliminate his reach. He said that he “hopes” Spotify “will improve” its “sound quality” as he has determined to end his boycott with the service.
The musician made national headlines in 2022 for his scathing accusations against Rogan and his use of First Amendment rights to discuss controversial opinions and underreported facts about the coronavirus and its treatments. At the time, Spotify was streaming Rogan’s podcast exclusively.
Following Young’s statement that the platform “can have Rogan or Young” but “not both,” a spokesperson from Spotify explained that the streaming service does have content guidelines in place and had removed “20,000 podcast episodes” that violated these regulations surrounding the pandemic.
Many episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience that featured controversial guests or content were removed following Young’s boycott launch.
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