'It's Joe Rogan Or Me': Neil Young Demands Spotify Remove His Music Over 'Vaccine Misinformation'

Neil Young posted a letter demanding his music be taken down from Spotify for spreading vaccine misinformation on its platform through Joe Rogan's podcast. Neil Young addressed the letter to his management and record label demanding they remove his music from the streaming platform before deleting the letter. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” he wrote, reported RollingStone. “Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”

“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he wrote. “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.” Spotify is home to Joe Rogan's podcast 'The Joe Rogan Experience' and it's an exclusive and expensive deal for the streaming platform. In 2020, he signed an exclusive licensing deal with Spotify reportedly worth $100 million. The podcaster has been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation on multiple occasions and was warned that it was causing great harm to the public and encouraging vaccine hesitancy. “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” the letter read. “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”

Young's manager Frank Gironda confirmed the letter was authentic to The Daily Beast and said, “It’s something that’s really important to Neil. He’s very upset … we’re trying to figure this out right now.” Joe Rogan's tendency to play 'both sides' and give credibility to the anti-vaccine movement has raised concerns among the medical community, especially given his widespread influence. He was described by one epidemiologist as “a menace to public health” for airing anti-vaccine ideology. He has also championed the use of Ivermectin as a treatment that hasn't been recommended by the CDC.

Last month, 270 doctors, physicians, and science educators signed an open letter asking Spotify to stop spreading Joe Rogan’s baseless claims. “Mass-misinformation events of this scale have extraordinarily dangerous ramifications,” read the letter, reported The Guardian. The open letter was published after a highly controversial episode of the podcast from last December featuring Robert Malone, a virologist who was involved in the mRNA vaccine technology that led to some of the leading Covid-19 vaccines but has since been criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation.

“As scientists, we face backlash and resistance as the public grows to distrust our research and expertise. As educators and science communicators, we are tasked with repairing the public’s damaged understanding of science and medicine. As physicians, we bear the arduous weight of a pandemic that has stretched our medical systems to their limits and only stands to be exacerbated by the anti-vaccination sentiment woven into this and other episodes of Rogan’s podcast,” the letter continued. The letter also pinned the responsibility on Spotify for providing a platform for vaccine misinformation. “This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform,” read the letter.