In November 2014, Taylor Swift pulled her catalog from Spotify, citing the low rates at which Spotify pays artists per stream. Young isn’t the first major artist to pick a public fight with Spotify. And if Young continues to stand alone, will it make a difference? What we have not seen, however, is a domino effect with any more stars of Young’s stature delivering the same ultimatum to Spotify. Throughout the week, countless fans and musicians have voiced support for Young’s letter and posted the hashtag #DeleteSpotify on social media. On paper, he may be the ideal candidate for a musician who can stand up to a huge corporation like Spotify and enact positive change. The bottom line is that when Young speaks, many listen. Beyond that, Young has written several notable protest songs and topical lyrics throughout his career, from his response to the 1970 Kent State shootings in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Ohio” to his 2006 anti-George W.
In 1985, Young also co-founded Farm Aid with John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson, an annual concert to benefit family farmers across America.
Label owner David Geffen ultimately apologized to Young for the lawsuit, forever enshrining the rocker as an advocate for artists’ rights and creative freedom.Īlso Read Neil Young’s Harvest Celebrated With 50th Anniversary Edition In the 1980s, Young and Geffen Records engaged in a historic legal battle over the “uncharacteristic” and “not commercial” albums he recorded for Geffen. Neil Young is one of the most respected musicians alive, both for his prolific and influential musical output as well as his personal integrity and outspoken activism. “We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. All that remains on his artist page are a scattered array of collaborations and compilation tracks, the most popular of which is a 1992 live recording of Young, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and other stars singing Dylan’s “My Back Pages” from the 1992 Dylan 30th anniversary concert, which has over 9 million streams. By the end of the day on Wednesday, his albums were all gone from Spotify. The letter has since been deleted from Young’s website, but it appears that he’s sticking to his guns. Citing Spotify-exclusive podcast The Joe Rogan Experience and Rogan’s role as a voice of COVID-19 misinformation and vaccine skepticism, Young made an ultimatum: “They can have Rogan or Young. On Monday, rock legend Neil Young published an open letter to his label and management on his own website asking that all his music (over 40 studio albums and many more live albums and compilations) be removed from the streaming service Spotify.
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