Folk-rock legend Neil Young is offering listeners a free four-month subscription to Amazon’s streaming service amid a fallout with Spotify, which he’s boycotting in protest of its controversial anti-vaccine podcaster Joe Rogan.
Young, 76, plugged Amazon Music to his 76,000 Twitter followers Friday, saying ‘all new listeners will get four months free.’
‘Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing hi-res audio to the masses, and it’s a great place to enjoy my entire catalogue in the highest quality available,’ he said in a message on his website.
Young last week threatened to remove his music from Spotify unless it fired Rogan, who’s been accused by critics of pushing ‘anti-vax misinformation’ on his podcast.
Other musicians have joined in on the boycott, including Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.
Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle are also calling on Spotify to fire Rogan. The couple, who signed a $25 million deal with the streaming service, have since April been expressing ‘concerns’ over Rogan’s commentary, a spokeswoman told CNN.
Grammy-winning artist Neil Young is inviting fans to join him on Amazon, where he’s offering a free four-month subscription, after he boycotted Spotify for spreading ‘vaccine misinformation’. He’s pictured performing in East Troy, Wisconsin on September 21, 2019
He put out a call for fans to listen to his legendary work on Amazon Prime Music, saying it ‘has been leading the pack in bringing hi-res audio to the masses’
But the formerly royal couple have not split with the firm, instead saying they were ‘committed to continuing our work together’ as it addressed their issues.
‘We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis,’ the spokeswoman said.
‘We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.’
Young – whose hits include Heart of Gold and Rockin’ in the Free World – is a 27-time Grammy nominee and two-time winner who last week gave Spotify an ultimatum to either fire Rogan or remove his catalogue.
‘They can have Rogan or Young,’ he wrote in an open letter to his manager and record label. ‘Not both.’
Spotify acquired The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, reportedly for more than $100 million
Other musicians have joined in on the boycott, including Joni Mitchell (right) and Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren (left)
Young, 76, hit out at the streaming platform, which offers 72 albums of his work, for ‘spreading fake information about vaccines.’
Spotify acquired The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, reportedly for more than $100 million.
Spotify agreed to remove his music days after he issued the ultimatum, but the streaming platform contended that it has played a role in curbing Covid misinformation.
‘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,’ a spokesperson told Variety.
‘We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.’
Young wasn’t the first one to call Spotify out on enabling Rogan’s controversial content.
Earlier this month, hundreds of doctors and scientists signed an open letter to Spotify accusing Rogan of pushing ‘anti-vax misinformation’ on his podcast – with one branding him a ‘menace to public health’.
Lofgren – who has played the guitar for Springsteen, Young, and others – became the latest musician to take his solo work off the streaming service.
He wrote in Young’s newsletter that he was joining his bandmate in ‘standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses’ in criticizing Spotify over its role in ‘promoting lies and misinformation’ regarding Covid.
His announcement came as Spotify faces an exodus of talent with podcaster Brené Brown ‘pausing’ her channel and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl also rumored to be leaving the platform.
Amazon Prime Music, which includes 2 million songs, is included with its Prime subscription.
Its Amazon Music Unlimited platform includes 75 million songs and podcasts at a cost of $7.99 per month and up.
Spotify subscriptions start at $9.99.