Joni Mitchell back on Spotify after Joe Rogan Podcast boycott

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After exiting Spotify in 2022 following a dispute over Joe Rogan’s podcast, Joni Mitchell’s music is back on the streaming service.

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Mitchell followed fellow musician Neil Young in removing her music after she accused Rogan of spreading misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine on his popular podcast.

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“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” the 10-time Grammy winner wrote in a statement published on her website. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”

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But her music returned to the platform this week with fans on social media cheering the news.

“Joni Mitchell is being put back on Spotify as we speak. Nature has officially healed,” one person wrote on X, with another adding, “Joni Mitchell making more noise on the TL than any pop star this year.”

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But Mitchell’s return, along with Young’s, was chided by critics who thought their response was a childish overreaction to Rogan’s podcast.

“Their tens of fans will be giddy,” one person swiped, while another joked, “I guess they were running out of money for tofu hotdogs.”

Back in 2022, Young said he was removing his music “because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”

Young continued his missive by writing, “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off its platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”

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Rogan pledged to offer different viewpoints to his listeners, saying in an Instagram video at the time, “If there’s anything I’ve done that I could do better, that is to have more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones. I would most certainly be open to doing that.”

But a line was drawn in the sand, and Spotify stuck with Rogan, whose podcast reaches tens of millions every week.

In a statement at the time, Spotify said: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”

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Young returned to the app earlier this month in an announcement posted to his website. Young said in his statement that he wasn’t changing his mind about Rogan’s podcast. The decision to return was driven in large part by other major streaming services now featuring the show as well.

“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,” Young wrote.

“Spotify, the #1 streamer of low res music in the world — Spotify where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again,” he continued, taking a swipe at the streamer’s audio quality. “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at SPOTIFY.”

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After Young’s return, Rogan took a shot at the Canadian rocker. “By the way, Neil Young came back to Spotify. Congratulations, Neil,” Rogan quipped earlier this month on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “And his excuse was he said that because all of the platforms are now allowing my disinformation, he’s just going back on Spotify too … Great to know you’ve got some ethics.”

Mitchell, who recently won best folk album at the 2024 Grammys and performed at the award show, did not address her return to Spotify.

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