Joni Mitchell also pulls music from Spotify over Covid-19 falsehoods
Los Angeles, United States, Jan 28 (EFE).- Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell said Friday she would follow in the footsteps of Neil Young and withdraw her music from Spotify in protest at the broadcast of a popular podcast accused of spreading falsehoods about Covid-19 and vaccines against the disease.
Mitchell, one of the most important voices of folk and winner of eight Grammy Awards, supported in a statement the almost 300 scientists who a few weeks ago warned Spotify it was allowing the dissemination of messages that “damage confidence” in medical research.
“I have decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people’s lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical community,” the Canadian singer-songwriter said on her website.
Mitchell’s decision to withdraw her music catalog from the main streaming music platform comes on a very important day, as the artist should have received the Grammy Person of the Year award Saturday in a ceremony that has had to be postponed until April due to the coronavirus.
The singer-songwriter is an eminence of popular music thanks to albums like “Court and Spark” (1974), “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” (1975) and, above all, “Blue” (1971), a title that routinely listed among the best albums ever.
Mitchell’s friend Neil Young also removed his music Wednesday from Spotify for the same reason.
“Spotify has become the home of dangerous misinformation about Covid-19. Lies sold for money,” Young said Friday, encouraging other musicians to distance themselves from the platform.
Earlier, the author of “Harvest” had issued an ultimatum, demanding the removal of his music if Spotify continued to broadcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” considered the most popular podcast in the United States.
The show, offered exclusively on this platform after Spotify signed Rogan for $100 million in 2020, has been repeatedly criticized for promoting coronavirus conspiracy theories and encouraging non-vaccination.
A letter signed by 270 American doctors and scientists warned Spotify a few weeks ago that it was allowing the dissemination of messages that damage public confidence in scientific research and health recommendations.
The company said it has a responsibility to find a balance between “the safety of listeners and the freedom of creators” and said that since the start of the pandemic it has withdrawn more than 20,000 episodes of podcasts related to Covid-19 in compliance with its content standards. EFE
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