Joni Mitchell puts music back on Spotify after two-year protest
Almost two years after the 70s star took her music off of Spotify in protest, fans can now go back to streaming it on the platform.
Joni Mitchell's music is back on Spotify.
This comes after the music legend removed her music from the streaming platform at the beginning of 2022 in protest.
She blamed Spotify for distributing the Joe Rogan's podcast, which promoted conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
"I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," she said in a statement on her website.
READ: Joni Mitchell to perform at the Grammys for the first time
In an open letter written to Spotify in January 2022, Joni wrote: "On Dec. 31, 2021, the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), a Spotify-exclusive podcast, uploaded a highly controversial episode featuring guest Dr. Robert Malone (#1757). The episode has been criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories and the JRE has a concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals."
At the time, the 'Both Sides Now' star was following in the footsteps of Neil Young, who had also removed his music from the streaming platform citing the same reason as Joni.
Joni wrote on her website that she stands "in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue".
Last week, Neil Young also put his music back on the streaming platform.
“Spotify, the #1 streamer of low res music in the world — Spotify, where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again,” Young announced Tuesday in a post on his website.
“My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at SPOTIFY. 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, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it.
“I hope all you millions of Spotify users enjoy my songs! They will now all be there for you except for the full sound we created."
More From East Coast Gold
For loads of fantastic 60s, 70s, and 80s classics, listen to East Coast Gold via the ECR app or here.
We’re also on platforms like Alexa (just enable the ‘East Coast Gold’ skill), MyTuner, Radio Garden, iono.fm, Radioline, and OpenRadio.Image courtesy of YouTube.
Image courtesy of Instagram.