Joni Mitchell Stands With Neil Young, Decides To Take Music Off Spotify

Eight-time Grammy Award winner Joni Mitchell is standing with Neil Young, following Spotify's decision to take down all of his music from their platform.

The audio streaming service announced this after Young gave them an ultimatum to delete his songs or stop Joe Rogan from spreading "public misinformation" about COVID through his podcast.

The "A Case Of You Singer" did not let her musical counterpart take the fall alone and has now requested that Spotify take down all her songs as well.

Mitchell is carrying on the protest torch against the spread of unprofessional COVID news ignited by Young as she seeks to have all her music taken down from Spotify.

On Friday, January 28, the "River" artist took to her official website with a message behind her decision to leave, writing:

“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.”

Mitchell's show of support means she is walking away from a whopping 3.7 million monthly listeners, as seen on her Spotify page.

The Canadian singer-songwriter's singles "A Case of You" and "Big Yellow Taxi" also garnered over 100 million streams from worldwide listeners. 

The Blast previously shared that Young called on other artists and record companies to leave Spotify to prevent the spread of misinformation on COVID.

The "Heart of Gold" singer took this stance after hundreds of medical professionals, researchers, and scientists signed an open letter imploring Spotify to monitor the spread of false COVID news.

The letter was aimed at Spotify's most popular podcast: “The Joe Rogan Experience." Medical authorities called Rogan a clear example of “broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The streaming service failed to heed the pleas for a clear public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform, leading Young to take matters into his hands.

The “For What It's Worth" singer penned an open letter calling out Spotify for recently becoming a very destructive force that spreads lies about COVID. 

Despite admitting that pulling his songs away from the streaming platform was a huge loss for his record company, Young could no longer "support Spotify’s life-threatening misinformation to the music-loving public.”

The "Harvest Moon" singer thanked all those who have supported him through his decision and asked for other musicians to join the fight. He expressed:

“I sincerely hope that other artists and record companies will move off the Spotify platform and stop supporting Spotify’s deadly misinformation about COVID.”

On January 28, The World Health Organization also publicly thanked Young via Twitter for making a sacrifice and standing up against COVID misinformation.

Spotify executives may have thought they were calling Young's bluff when they decided to keep Joe Rogan's podcast and ignore the open letter from health professionals.

The Blast revealed a statement from the company's spokesperson that read:

“We've removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”

What Spotify hoped was a checkmate to Young merely led the company to shut down its live customer support as a surge of complaints emerged from listeners. 

The #DeleteSpotify trend swiftly went viral on social media as worldwide users began tossing their accounts into the online trash pile.

Mitchell lost 3.7 million listeners by walking away from Spotify, but she still has a lot to celebrate after striking an administration deal with another fast-rising independent music company.

Last September, Variety reported that Reservoir Media became the worldwide administrator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's publishing catalog.

At the time of the announcement, Mitchell said she was looking forward to the partnership but even more excited was Reservoir CEO & Founder Golnar Khosrowshahi.

Khosrowshahi said, "Joni is a musical pioneer and a once-in-a-lifetime creator, and we look forward to safeguarding her catalog and championing her legacy.”

Reservoir Global Creative Director, Donna Caseine called the partnership an "important milestone" for all members of Reservoir Media "career-defining moment when you have the opportunity to work with an icon."