Folk pop icon Joni Mitchell is the second major music act to announce intention to remove her catalog off Spotify.
It seems she is following Neil Young's example.
She said on her website: “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. 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.”
Note that Neil earlier demanded to have his music taken off the streaming platform, taking offense in sharing the site with Joe Rogan, the popular but controversial host of the Joe Rogan Experience, whom he described, along with Spotify, in a now deleted post from his website as, “spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.”
The removal of his catalog on Spotify began Wednesday.
“That Mitchell would openly back Young’s stand against the streaming giant should come as no surprise; the singers, both got their start in the Canadian folk scene, have been friends for nearly six decades,” Rolling Stone wrote.
Joni, whose contemporaries include Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash, is among the first to support Neil’s stand. Peter Frampton and David Crosby have since chimed in their support for Neil’s decision.
Spotify had addressed the Neil Young issue with an official statement that read, “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
As of this writing, Joni’s catalog can still be accessed on Spotify.