Joni Mitchell Joins Spotify Misinformation Protest

Standing with hundreds of physicians and medical experts who have called on Spotify to develop a policy on misinformation to counter the Covid-19 falsehoods podcast host Joe Rogan has aired on his wildly popular show, singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell announced late Friday that she would remove her music from the streaming platform.

"I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," Mitchell wrote in a brief message on her official website, asking her fans to read an open letter to Spotify signed by more than 270 people in the medical community earlier this month.

"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," she added, referring to Young's decision to remove his music from Spotify earlier this week.

Both Mitchell and Young survived polio as children and are "staunch proponents of vaccination science," according to The Daily Beast.

The open letter Mitchell cited did not ask Spotify to cut ties with "The Joe Rogan Experience," ("JRE") which has an estimated audience of 11 million listeners per episode, but instead called on Spotify to "immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform."

Such a policy could counter the misinformation Rogan has aired on his podcast, said the letter, including his claim that Covid-19 vaccines are "gene therapy," his recent guest Dr. Robert Malone's statement that the U.S. government has "hypnotized" the public into adhering to public health policies, and his promotion of off-label use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19.

Rogan has also said he would advise young people not to get vaccinated against Covid-19, a statement the doctors warned could have a measurable impact on his audience, considering "the average age of 'JRE' listeners is 24 years old and according to data from Washington State, unvaccinated 12 to 34 year olds are 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid than those who are fully vaccinated."

Spotify signed a multi-year $100 million exclusive licensing deal with Rogan in 2020.

Public health experts applauded Mitchell on Saturday for "[standing] up for public health."

Spotify's market value lost $4 billion this week following Young's decision to remove his music from the platform as the hashtags #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify trended on social media.