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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Entertainment
Asharq Al-Awsat

Joni Mitchell Says She's Removing Music from Spotify

Joni Mitchell arrives at the 2015 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif. Feb. 7, 2015. (AP)

Joni Mitchell has pledged to remove her music from Spotify, just a few days after fellow singer-songwriter icon Neil Young did the same.

In a note on her official website titled "I Stand With Neil Young!," Mitchell wrote: "I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. 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."

It is unclear when Mitchell's music will be removed from the platform. Representatives for Spotify and Mitchell did not immediately respond to Variety's request for comment.

Young first threatened to pull his music from Spotify in an open letter on Monday, citing his objections to Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan's statements regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Please immediately inform Spotify that I am actively canceling all my music availability on Spotify as soon as possible," Young wrote. "I am doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines - potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them."

On Wednesday, Young's music was officially removed from the streaming platform.

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."

Rogan hosts "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast on Spotify, which is the platform's most-listened to podcast.

Earlier this month, a group of public health officials urged Spotify to take action against Rogan in an open letter, writing that he has a "concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic."

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