Neil Young is demanding that Spotify remove his music from its service, due to what he sees as the distribution of false information about the corona vaccine by John Rogen in his podcast.
Rogen is considered one of the most prominent opponents of the vaccine in the American media, and his podcast is among the most balanced in the world in recent years.
"They can hold Rogan or Young. Not both," the veteran musician wrote in an open letter he sent to his management and record company.
The letter appeared briefly on the singer's archive website before being removed from it.
Spotify, the company that acquired the exclusive rights to Rogen's $ 100 million podcast in 2020, has not released a comment.
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"I do this because 'Spotify' disseminates false information about the vaccines - thereby causing potential death to those who choose to believe the misinformation they are disseminating," Young wrote in the letter.
"Please act accordingly today and update me on the schedules."
He also wrote: "With about 11 million listeners to the episode, 'Joe Rogen Experience', which can be listened to exclusively on 'Spotify', is the largest podcast in the world and has a huge impact.
"Spotify" has the responsibility to dilute the extent of the distribution of false information on its platform, but at present the company has no policy regarding the dissemination of misinformation. "
The legendary rocker is not the first person to express concern in the face of the content that Rogen distributes in his essay.
Last month, 270 doctors, scientists and health experts signed a public letter urging Spotify to pursue a policy of dealing with false information, due to what they called "Rogen's alarming history" regarding his views on the corona plague.
The letter mentioned an episode of the podcast in which Rogen interviewed a doctor who harshly criticized the treatment of the plague.
"Rogen's Distressing History."
Joe Rogen, Photo: Gettyimages
Rogen has been criticized and accused of promoting and disseminating conspiracy theories, including the false claim that hospitals around the world are under the directive of cataloging any death as a result of virus infection.
It should be noted that last year, before the episode aired, Rogen made it clear that he did not oppose vaccines.
"I believe they are safe and urge many to get vaccinated," he said, but refused to back down on the grounds that young people do not need to be vaccinated either.
"Spotify" has removed controversial content in the past, including several episodes of the same Rogen podcast, which featured American right-wingers.
These were recorded before signing his exclusive contract with the popular streaming service.
Alongside this, "Spotify" removed music by ensembles with neo-Nazi characteristics.
Young himself has removed his songs from the service in the past, as well as from services like Apple Music, when he claimed in 2015 that the audio quality they offer was inadequate.
At this time the musician's albums can still be listened to on the service.
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