
Neil Young has never been quiet about his hatred of streaming, Big Tech, or the digitization of the music experience in general. But the veteran rocker escalated the crusade earlier this week, when he posted (and then deleted) a letter on his website asking his manager and an executive at his label, Warner Bros., to pull his entire catalog from Spotify. Artists have long criticized the streaming platform for not compensating musicians fairly, but Young cited a different reason for his action: Joe Rogan. The most popular podcaster in the world has been trafficking in COVID misinformation and promoting quack treatments on his show throughout the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci has pushed back against Rogan’s snake oil, and earlier this month, 270 global health professionals signed an open letter countering the COVID misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience. Neil Young, however, is the first major artist to strike back against Spotify’s continued platforming of Rogan by weaponizing his catalog. As of this writing, Young’s music is no longer available to stream on Spotify, with the exception of some scattered compilation features as well as the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young catalog.