Joe Rogan continues to be public enemy number one because he’s not in the Fauci-Democrat-liberal media panic porn camp on COVID. Neil Young wanted his music removed from Spotify, the streaming service that hosts Rogan’s podcast. Young tried to force the service to boot Rogan. It failed miserably. Spotify will take a brief hit, but the service won’t collapse because Young’s music is gone. Now, Joni Mitchell is demanding they remove her songs as well. The only thing this little game has done is remind people that these artists aren’t dead yet, as Thomas LaDuke noted over at RedState. Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist has also demanded Spotify remove his songs as well (via Fox Business):
Bruce Springsteen's guitarist and Neil Young’s bandmate, Nils Lofgren, is the latest musician to pull their music from Spotify in protest of what they say is COVID-19 misinformation on the platform.
Lofgren, 70, joins Young and Joni Mitchell who earlier this week asked the streaming service to remove their respective catalogs of music specifically in protest of Joe Rogan using his podcast, which is exclusive to the platform, to spread what they say is misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines.
"A few days ago, my wife Amy and I became aware of Neil and Daryl [Hannah] standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses in calling out Spotify for promoting lies and misinformation that are hurting and killing people," Lofgren wrote in the latest issue of Neil Young’s newsletter. "When these heroic women and men, who’ve spent their lives healing and saving ours, cry out for help you don’t turn your back on them for money and power. You listen and stand with them."
He went on to explain that he had already taken steps to remove "the last 27 years of my music" from the platform and that he is currently in discussions with various labels that own his earlier work to remove the rest of it. As Young did in his initial announcement, Lofgren encouraged his fellow musicians to follow his lead and "cut ties with Spotify."
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) January 30, 2022
His exact quote was "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both" and I'm getting a little tired of this new weasel thing where you say "hey, I didn't actually ask them to fire/censor/punish this person."
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) January 29, 2022
The point was to "censor" Rogan because Young was trying to get him kicked off. https://t.co/dyvobwADX9
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) January 29, 2022
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) January 28, 2022
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) January 28, 2022
— The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) January 28, 2022
Frankly, I think Becket Adams has a good new rule about all these Spotify-COVID-Joe Rogan stories.
Can we put a hold on these stories until someone with a major hit from at least the past 20 years jumps on the anti-Rogan bandwagon?
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) January 30, 2022
Barry Manilow was also named as an artist who demanded to be removed, but he squashed that story as a total rumor (via Hollywood Reporter):
Barry Manilow has shut down rumors that he is pulling his music catalogue from Spotify following the high-profile departure of Neil Young from the streaming platform earlier this week.
“I recently heard a rumor about me and Spotify,” the singer said in a statement Friday. “I don’t know where it started, but it didn’t start with me or anyone who represents me.”
We all know that any view that deviates from what Lord Emperor Fauci says will be mislabeled misinformation. And this comes after every expert’s advice about the virus, spread, masks, and the vaccine has been blown up over the holidays. The vaccine doesn’t prevent infection or spread. It does protect you from getting potentially lethal bouts if infected, but the whole ‘force field’ selling point is long dead. COVID is endemic. It’s here to stay. And everyone is going to get it eventually. Shed your fear of it—and stop attacking Joe Rogan, liberal America. He agrees with more action items on your agenda than he does with ours. Then again, that's not the point of all this, right?
Mostly because we realize this isn't about Joe Rogan. It's a warning shot to those who would dare follow and to the platforms themselves. https://t.co/7bQBOmlGuJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 30, 2022
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