(Toronto) Neil Young returns to Spotify. Two years after the singer Heart of Gold launched a boycott of the on-demand listening platform due to misinformation about vaccines in Joe Rogan’s podcast, Young announced that he intended to end this pressure tactic and return.
However, he says this is not a change of direction from his initial decision.
Young wrote on his website that he decided to return to Spotify after the company ended its exclusive distribution deal with Rogan’s podcast, meaning it is now available on various platforms, including owned by Apple and Amazon.
He emphasizes that extending the boycott to other major listening platforms did not make sense, because his music would have “very few outlets for music lovers” on listening sites.
In January 2022, Young removed his catalog from Spotify after issuing an ultimatum to the company over concerns Joe Rogan’s show was spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Shortly after, Joni Mitchell joined in and removed most of her music from Spotify.
Both musicians contracted polio as children before a vaccine was developed in the early 1950s.
In Quebec, the illustrious singer Gilles Vigneault had also followed the path traced by Young and Mitchell, supporting “with all (his) convictions their bold approach, dictated by an ethic which is the true guardian of our thoughts and our values”.
The Canadian Press attempted to verify whether Vigneault intended to return to the platform, but the message remained unanswered as of this writing.
Neil Young says he hopes that with the return of his music, Spotify will improve the sound quality of its platform to support high-resolution audio.