Joni Mitchell wants her song Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation concerns

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Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young in asking her music to be taken off Spotify over worries of COVID-19 misinformation on the streaming service. In a message on her site, the Canadian singer said she stands in solidarity with Young and the "global scientific and medical communities." 

She doesn't cite Joe Rogan, whose popular podcast is a Spotify exclusive, in her desire to pull her music from the service. Instead, she did link an open letter from a group of scientists and medical professionals that criticized Spotify for hosting's The Joe Rogan Experience. The letter accuses Rogan of spreading misleading claims on his show and provoking distrust in medicine and science. The group wanted Spotify to "take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform."

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Spotify will pull Neil Young's music after Joe Rogan and vaccine misinformation dispute

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Musician Neil Young wanted Spotify to choose between him and its controversial star podcaster Joe Rogan. And it looks like the streaming service chose the latter as it is in the process of removing Young's extensive catalogue from Spotify. The artist made a formal request for its removal on January 26, Wednesday, and by the time you read this, it might no longer be on the platform. 

Young was outraged by what he claims is the platform spreading misinformation about vaccines through podcasters like Rogan, who has episodes on his show containing misinformation, including an interview with Dr. Robert Malone, who claims that "psychosis" led people to believe vaccines were effective.

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Neil Young wants to pull music from Spotify over vaccine disinformation

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Neil Young reluctantly has his catalogue on Spotify, but now the artist wants it pulled again. In a since-deleted letter to his management team and record label, he demands they remove his music from the streaming service because "Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines - potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them."

He targets Spotify because of its exclusive deal with podcaster Joe Rogan, who has helped fuel this anti-vaccine movement. "I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform," he continued. "They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both."

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Spotify acquires audio platform to help turn radio shows into podcasts

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Spotify's latest acquisition will help the company lure radio broadcasters to turn their shows into podcasts. The company bought Whooshkaa, an Australia-based firm that provides radio broadcasters tools to convert their shows into podcasts. Spotify plans to integrate its technology into its Megaphone suite for podcasters. The goal is to offer stations a way to profit from shows by offering ad-supported podcast episodes.

Whooshkaa can also help with Spotify's other audio efforts. Founder Rob Loewenthal mentioned that his company offered speech-to-text and text-to-speech tech, smart home integration, and "enterprise grade" podcasting tools. But those have not been clearly noted as part of their goals. We wouldn't be surprised if these help Spotify develop its podcasting features in the future.

Source: Engadget