NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Young’s music will be removed from Spotify at his request, following the veteran rock star’s protest over the streaming service airing a popular podcast that featured a figure criticized for spreading COVID misinformation.
Spotify, in a statement on Wednesday, said that it regretted Young’s decision, “but hope to welcome him back soon.”
It wasn’t immediately clear when his music will actually be taken down.
“I realized I could not continue to support Spotify’s life-threatening misinformation to the music loving people,” Young said in a statement.
Young had asked his management and record company publicly on Monday to remove his music from the popular streaming service, where he had more than six million monthly listeners, according to his Spotify home page.
Spotify airs the popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where last month the comedian interviewed Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease specialist who has become a hero in the anti-vaccine community. Malone has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation and has falsely suggested that millions of people have been hypnotized into believing that the vaccines work to prevent serious disease.
