Crazy Horse guitarist Nils Lofgren removes his music from Spotify in support of Neil Young

As if things weren’t bad enough for the people working at Spotify following all the recent controversies around the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, now they’ve got Ted Nugent coming to their defence – and via the daily podcast he records for the pro-hunting lobby group he advises and represents. Lovely stuff.On Friday night’s edition of the ‘The Nightly Nuge’ podcast, Nugent’s co-host Keith Mark brought up how that Canadian Neil Young is again talking politics in the USA, before musing how a musician that has in the past spoken up for free speech is now pro-censorship.Which isn’t true, of course, but it was Young who instigated the artist boycott of Spotify over the COVID misinformation contained in Rogan’s Spotify exclusive podcast.Young and other artists who have spoken out about the controversial COVID conversations that have occurred on Rogan’s programme insist that they are not calling for censorship.However, they argue, platforms like Spotify have a responsibility to counter misleading information that could negatively impact on people’s health, and they’d rather not be associated with any platforms that aren’t fulfilling that responsibility.Asked what he makes of Young and his Spotify boycott, Nugent initially said some nice things about his fellow musician, but then added “the guy is a complete punk”.

Ted Nugent has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding Spotify and Neil Young‘s decision to pull his music from the platform.Young last month demanded that his music be removed from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Young’s former bandmates Crosby, Stills & Nash, comedian Stewart Lee, Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, and cult alternative rockers Failure, among others.Now, controversial right-wing rocker Ted Nugent has spoken out about Young’s decision, calling the ‘Harvest Moon’ singer-songwriter “a complete punk”.Speaking on his ‘Friday Free For All’ edition of The Nightly Nuge on Friday (February 11), he said: “Well, Neil Young, God bless him. I’m sure that there’s many people that appreciate Neil Young’s creativity and his talents and his creation of wonderful music for those people who love that kind of music.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefWhen Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify over the audio streamer’s continued support of Joe Rogan, whom he accused of spreading “misinformation and lies” about COVID via his podcast interviews, there were some nasty “who cares?” tweets directed at the folk-rock icon. But the haters should care that this deadly pandemic has been raging for nearly two years and it ain’t over yet.Young has been adamant for some time that artists shouldn’t be touring because of COVID; he even pulled out of a Farm Aid benefit, a charity he co-founded.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDavid Crosby and Stephen Stills have joined Neil Young and Graham Nash in asking their labels to remove their collective recordings from Spotify.According to the announcement, in support of stopping harmful misinformation about Covid-19 on Joe Rogan’s Spotify-hosted podcast, the musicians have decided to remove their records from the streaming platform including the recordings of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby-Nash, as well as Crosby’s and Stills’ solo projects. Nash has already begun the process to take down his solo recordings.In a unified statement, the band members commented, “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast. While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don’t want our music – or the music we made together – to be on the same platform.” Reps for Spotify did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.Following a similar request by Joni Mitchell, the move reunites the five artists, who have been friends and collaborators since the 1960s, in a stance that they certainly could not have imagined 50 years ago.

David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash have issued a statement supporting former bandmate Neil Young in seeking the removal of their music from Spotify in protest of podcaster Joe Rogan.

Graham Nash has declared his support for Neil Young, announcing plans to remove his music from Spotify in protest of the service platforming misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine.Young demanded that his music be pulled from Spotify last week, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, confirming on Wednesday (January 26) that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.Nash, Young’s longtime friend and CSNY bandmate, has now followed suit, issuing a statement to Rolling Stone in which he revealed he has requested his solo material be removed from Spotify.“Having heard the Covid disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify, I completely agree with and support my friend Neil Young and I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service,” Nash began his statement.“There is a difference between being open to varying viewpoints on a matter and knowingly spreading false information which some 270 medical professionals have derided as not only false but dangerous,” he continued.“Likewise, there is a difference between misinformation, in which one is unaware that what is being said is false, versus disinformation which is knowingly false and intended to mislead and sway public opinion.“The opinions publicized by Rogan are so dishonest and unsupported

Neil Young’s former and longtime bandmates Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, along with singer-songwriter India.Arie, are the latest musicians to join Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in announcing the removal of their songs from Spotify.

Neil Young has offered fans free four-month subscriptions to Amazon Music as his Spotify row continues.Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on its original podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.Young then pulled his music from the platform, sparking a protest against the misinformation being spread about the virus on Rogan’s Spotify original podcast. The likes of Joni Mitchell and Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren then followed his decision.Taking to Twitter on Friday (January 28), Young plugged Amazon Music to his followers, offering them free access for four months.“Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing Hi-Res audio to the masses, and it’s a great place to enjoy my entire catalog in the highest quality available,” he wrote.“Thanks also to Apple Music (I LOVE APPLE) and Qobuz for sticking with my High Res music.”All folks looking for my music can easily head to AMAZON MUSIC and click here https://t.co/xvhKGMkA36 – all new listeners will get four months free.

Spotify due to COVID misinformation spread on his podcast.Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed the open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.The situation then made headline news last week, with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren have pulling their music from the platform after Young sparked a protest against the misinformation being spread about the virus on Rogan’s Spotify original podcast.In a new video clip posted to Instagram, Rogan addresses “some of the controversy that’s been going on over the past few days.”He told fans: “I don’t always get it right. I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.Admitting that it is a “strange responsibility to have this many views and listeners,” he promised “to do my best in the future to balance things out.”Of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell’s departure from Spotify, Rogan added: “I’m very sorry that they feel that way.

Nils Lofgren is the latest artist to pull his music from Spotify to boycott COVID-19 misinformation on the platform.

Spotify is adding COVID-19 content advisories to all relevant podcast episodes, the streaming company has announced in a new statement.Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren have pulled their music from the platform after Young sparked a protest against the misinformation being spread about the virus on Joe Rogan’s Spotify podcast.Now, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has responded in an official statement that sets out the company’s plan to tackle the spread of misinformation on its site. The main proponent of that plan involves adding content advisories to every podcast episode that discusses coronavirus.“This advisory will direct listeners to our dedicated COVID-19 Hub, a resource that provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources,” the statement said.“This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days.

While fans of Neil Young can no longer hear the Canadian rock legend’s music via Spotify, reports that Barry Manilow’s music was similarly being removed are apparently not true.

Neil Young has taken a stand against the COVID-19 vaccine misinformation being disseminated on Spotify via “The Joe Rogan Experience”, pulling all his music off the music-streaming service in protest.

Neil Young bandmate Nils Lofgren is the latest musician to take his solo work off of Spotify, in protest of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation being spread by Joe Rogan.Lofgren, 70, joined Canadian legends Young and Joni Mitchell in removing their music from the streaming service in protest of the podcaster.“A few days ago, my wife Amy and I became aware of Neil and Daryl [Hannah] standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses in calling out Spotify for promoting lies and misinformation that are hurting and killing people,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer wrote on Young’s newsletter Saturday.“When these heroic women and men, who’ve spent their lives healing and saving ours, cry out for help you don’t turn your back on them for money and power. You listen and stand with them.”Rogan has pushed unproven conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination messages on his popular show “The Joe Rogan Experience.”Spotify officials ruled his commentaries “didn’t meet the threshold for removal,” based on policies that allow podcasters to criticize medical guidance, according to internal memos reviewed by The Verge.“We apply our policies consistently and objectively,” Spotify PR leader Dustee Jenkins reportedly told employees.

Neil Young's footsteps and pulling her music from Spotify amid their stance over the platform siding with Joe Rogan's podcast.The Canadian singer-songwriter posted a brief statement Friday on her website with the headline «I Stand With Neil Young!» She wrote, «I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify.»«Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,» the statement continued. «I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.»In referencing the global scientific and medical communities, Mitchell, best known for her classic «Big Yellow Taxi» and «A Case of You,» was referring to the more than 200 scientists, medical professionals and science communicators who signed an open letter asking the platform to stop spreading Rogan's «baseless conspiracy theories.»«Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine,» the letter read in part.

will follow Neil Young’s lead and pull her music from Spotify over COVID-misinformation concerns.The two music giants decided to abandon the streaming service in protest of it’s prized podcaster Joe Rogan, who they’ve accused of spreading fake information about COVID vaccines.“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” Mitchell, 78, said in a statement posted to her website on Friday. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.”Mitchell, whose career spans six decades, was awarded the Grammy lifetime achievement award in 2002 and was named a Kennedy Center honoree in 2021.Her Canadian compatriot, Young, earlier this week gave Spotify an ultimatum in a since-deleted letter on his website that read: “They can have Neil Young or Rogan.

coronavirus.Mitchell, who like Young is a California-based songwriter who had much of her success in the 1970s, is the first prominent musician to join Young's effort.“Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” Mitchell said Friday in a message posted on her website. “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”Following Young's action this week, Spotify said it had policies in place to remove misleading content from its platform and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.But the service has said nothing about comedian Joe Rogan, whose podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” is the centerpiece of the controversy.

The legendary Joni Mitchell has announced she, too, will remove her music from Spotify because “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.” Mitchell says she is doing so “in solidarity” with her longtime friend, Neil Young, who requested his music be removed from the service because of Covid misinformation spread on Joe Rogan’s wildly popular Spotify podcast.

pulled his music from Spotify on Wednesday in protest of controversial podcaster Joe Rogan “spreading fake information about vaccines,” Apple Music has boosted Young’s music in a not-so-subtle dig at its top streaming rival. As of Friday morning, Apple Music’s homepage featured a playlist of Neil Young albums with the title “We Love Neil.” Apple’s streaming service also labeled itself the “the home of Neil Young” in a tweet late Thursday and sent out at least one push notification to users promoting Young’s latest album. Young’s beef with Spotify centers on what he says is Joe Rogan’s habit of hosting guests that spread lies about coronavirus vaccines. Rogan has an exclusive podcasting deal with Spotify reportedly valued at over $100 million. In a since-deleted letter to Spotify, Young said that Spotify hosting Rogan’s show was “potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.”The home of Neil Young.Listen to his entire catalog on Apple Music: https://t.co/sUGtz4JbB9 pic.twitter.com/YgRMygUqhi“They can have Neil Young or Rogan.