This may be your last chance to listen to "Heart of Gold" on Spotify, Neil Young fans.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Spotify is obliging the legendary artist's request to be removed from the streaming service due to its distribution of the popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
On Jan. 26, Young posted an open letter on his website seeking to cut ties with Spotify due to the company's relationship with Joe Rogan.
“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,” Young wrote.
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” Young continued. “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.”
It appears Spotify has chosen Joe Rogan. The streaming platform signed an exclusive $100 million deal with the commentator and comedian last year as it made a broader push into podcasts.
In a statement provided to Engadget, Spotify defended itself regarding Rogan's COVID-19 content.
"We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic," the streaming service said. "We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon."
Days after Young shared the letter, rocker Nils Lofgren joined his longtime Crazy Horse bandmate in having his music removed from Spotify, as Lofgren confirmed in a letter posted on the Neil Young Archives website.
"As I write this letter, we've now gotten the last 27 years of my music taken off Spotify," Lofgren wrote. "We are reaching out to the labels that own my earlier music to have it removed as well. We sincerely hope they honor our wishes, as Neil's labels have done [for] his."
This isn't the first time Neil Young requested the removal of his music from Spotify. The artist originally had issues with the audio quality of music on the service, before finally giving in and allowing Spotify to stream his music.
According to the report, talks between Young, his record label, and Spotify began shortly after he posted the letter.
Neil Young's music is scheduled to be removed from Spotify within "several hours."
Mashable has reached out to Spotify for comment.
UPDATE: Jan. 29, 2022, 9:49 p.m. EST Added information about a corresponding move by Nils Lofgren, who has played with Young as a member of Crazy Horse, to have his own music removed from Spotify.
Topics Music
