Reporter, HuffPost
Two more musicians have vowed to remove their music from Spotify as the streaming platform continues to let Joe Rogan spout COVID-19 misinformation.
Graham Nash and India Arie both announced they want their recordings removed from the platform because of Rogan, though they have different reasons.
Nash is following the lead of fellow Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young bandmate Neil Young by requesting Spotify remove his solo recordings. “There is a difference between being open to varying viewpoints on a matter and knowingly spreading false information which some 270 medical professionals have derided as not only false but dangerous,” he said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
Nash added: “The opinions publicized by Rogan are so dishonest and unsupported by solid facts that Spotify becomes an enabler in a way that costs people their lives.”
On Monday, Arie announced on Instagram she was also removing her music from Spotify, saying, “Young opened a door that I MUST walk through.”
But she wasn’t basing her decision just on Rogan’s COVID-19 misinformation, saying she finds him “problematic” in general, especially over his language around race.
For instance, Rogan recently claimed that “unless you are talking to someone who is, like, 100% African from the darkest place where they are not wearing any clothes all day and they have developed all of that melanin to protect themselves from the sun, even the term Black is weird.”
Other creators who have removed their content from Spotify because of Rogan include musicians Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren and author Brené Brown.
In addition, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have reportedly expressed their shared concerns to Spotify over its role in giving COVID-19 misinformation a platform, though they didn’t mention Rogan specifically.
Rogan apologized on Sunday to anyone who is offended by his frequent broadcast of misinformation, and the platform announced it will add content advisories to any podcast episode that discusses COVID-19.
But those remarks may have just been lip service.
Only 24 hours after promising to “have all the pertinent facts at hand” when discussing the coronavirus pandemic, Rogan tweeted and then deleted a link to an incorrect story about the drug ivermectin.
Reporter, HuffPost
