The decisions of the two musicians to leave Spotify does raise questions over what streaming services may be expected to do to combat misinformation.
Joe Rogan's apology on Sunday saw the podcaster vow to"try harder" and"do my best to balance things out" after the host faced public backlash for circulating COVID-19 misinformation on his Spotify showRogan's repeated use of the podcast to disseminate fringe COVID-19 viewpoints led a group of 270 scientists and health care professionals to publish a letter on January 10 calling on Spotify to take action against the spread of misinformation on its platform.
"[W]e call on Spotify to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform," the letter wrote. Recording artists Neil Young, Joni Mitchell helped to amplify the letter's request with Young announcing on January 24 that he would have his music pulled from Spotify if the company did not remove Rogan's podcast. Mitchell did the same on Friday.
Legendary musicians Neil Young, right, and Joni Mitchell have removed their music from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan's podcast.