Neil Young returns to Spotify after Amazon and Apple pick up Joe Rogan’s podcast
“My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at Spotify.”
Credit: Gary Miller/Getty Images
Neil Young‘s music will soon be returning to Spotify now that The Joe Rogan Experience will no longer be exclusive to the platform – but he doesn’t exactly seem overjoyed about it.
Spotify users have been unable to access Young’s catalogue since January 2022, when he removed his music to protest the platform’s inaction over Rogan’s controversial podcast which he says spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Back then, The Joe Rogan Experience was a Spotify exclusive.
“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” Young said in an open letter at the time, adding that Rogan’s podcast was “potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them”.
Young later hit out at the sound quality on the streaming service, asking in November 2022: “Why would I keep it on there when it sounds like a pixelated movie?”
Now, The Joe Rogan Experience is no longer a Spotify exclusive and has been picked up by Apple and Amazon. Young wrote in a post on his website yesterday (12th March): “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.”
“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.”
“So I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it. Qobuz and Tidal, where my music is presented, are all high-res as well.”
He concluded: “Hopefully Spotify will turn to high-res as the answer and sever all the music to everyone. Spotify, you can do it! Really be #1 in all ways. You have the music and the listeners! Start with a limited high-res tier and build from there!”
Neil Young’s music isn’t yet back on Spotify at the time of writing – but it’ll likely appear in the coming days.
