Neil Young returns to Spotify following protest against the Joe Rogan podcast

Legendary musician Neil Young is again making headlines for deciding to put his music back up on Spotify, announcing his return to the platform since January 2022. His decision to make the return, however, doesn't come without a mix of reluctance and criticism towards the streaming service's practices.

Neil stated that the reason for his withdrawal in January was that he was protesting against the platform's introduction of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, which he believed spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

Rogan was accused, not only by Young but by a group of 270 scientists and healthcare professionals saying that Rogan's misinformation was “a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform.” Following his stance, fans witnessed the removal of his music from Spotify, as he demanded that the platform choose between his music or the controversial podcast.

Rogan later released an apology in January 2022, saying “I don’t always get it right”, and added that he'd try to “balance things out” with “experts with differing opinions.” Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, also apologised, saying, “We have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely accepted information from the medical and scientific communities.”

However, Young's decision to rejoin Spotify was somewhat reserved. He went on to make claims expressing discontent with the audio quality of the app, claiming it to be "low res" and inferior to his original recordings. Despite this, he also expressed his concern for similar issues in other popular streaming platforms like Amazon Music and Apple Music.

He then stated, "I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all, so I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it. Qobuz and Tidal, where my music is presented, are all High res as well.”

Young's decision to return to Spotify matches his broader concerns about misinformation in podcasts across multiple services. While he didn't specify the precise nature of the disinformation on Apple and Amazon, it's speculated to have something to do with Joe Rogan's podcast, which recently has exploded beyond Spotify's exclusive domain.

Along with the restoration of his music to Spotify, Young and his band Crazy Horse have announced the upcoming release of their album FU##IN' UP which features tracks covering their 50-year career. The album is set to release on Record Store Day, with future availability in all formats.