Neil Young Resentfully Ends Years-Long Spotify Boycott Over Joe Rogan—Immediately Calls Out Streaming Platform

Since breaking into the music industry, Neil Young released a staggering 45 studio albums on his way to becoming an icon. With countless hits, the singer not only holds two Grammy Awards, but is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He even found himself inducted twice thanks to his work with the band Buffalo Springfield. With Rolling Stone considering him one of the 250 Greatest Guitarists of all Time, Young recently announced that he was returning to Spotify after stepping away from the platform two years ago. 

Back in January 2022, Young announced he was stepping away from Spotify. While many artists have criticized the platform for how much they pay singers, Young’s departure came as a form of protest against The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Not agreeing with some of the subject matter Joe Rogan discussed on his podcast, Young decided to pull his music. But it seems that the icon had a change of heart. He wrote on his website, “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. My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify.”

Neil Young Wants Nothing More Than For People To Enjoy His Music

Understanding the importance of streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple, Young admitted, “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.” He later added, “I hope all you millions of Spotify users enjoy my songs!” 

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As for Rogan, his podcast continues to dominate the airwaves as he recently signed a new deal with Spotify. Under the new guidelines, the podcast is available on more platforms than just Spotify. The podcast can now be found on Apple, Amazon Music, and YouTube. 

(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SXSW)