Joni Mitchell Returns Music to Spotify Years After Boycotting Streamer
Joni Mitchell quietly returned to Spotify, two years after boycotting the music streamer.
Fans noticed on Friday that the singer’s music seemingly reappeared on the platform, days after Neil Young also made his return to the audio giant. However, the “Help Me” singer has yet to address her return.
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The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Mitchell’s rep and Spotify for comment.
In January 2022, Mitchell announced that she was removing her music catalogue from the streamer in solidarity with Young. “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” she wrote on her website at the time. “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.”
Young initially pulled his music from Spotify that same year in protest of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation being spread on Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. The artist published (and later took down) an open letter, calling on the streamer to address misinformation on the platform.
Earlier this month, the “Harvest Moon” singer clarified that his Spotify return was not because of a reversal on his original stance, but because other audio streaming giants have begun playing Rogan’s podcast. The podcaster struck a new deal with Spotify last month, which included his show being distributed across several podcast platforms.
In a March 12 statement, Young said his decision to return “comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify.”
He added, “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.”
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