Crosby, Stills & Nash’s music back on Spotify 5 months after leaving platform over Joe Rogan row
Folk rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash's music has returned to Spotify five months after they took it off the platform to protest against Joe Rogan for spreading misinformation. This decision was taken in support of their part-time fourth member, Neil Young, who made the decision to boycott the streaming service for allowing Rogan to spread incorrect Covid information.
Music of the group, consisting of David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills, returned to Spotify on Saturday, July 2. The rock group will donate proceeds from the streams to Covid-19 charities for at least a month, a source told Billboard. When a fan asked Crosby why the music was back on the streaming platform, the 80-year-old musician responded, "I don't own it now and the people who do are in business to make money."
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I don’t own it now and the people who do are in business to make money https://t.co/TwyI2z2y1w
— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) July 2, 2022
Crosby's tweet referred to his decision to sell his music catalog last year. "Iconic has acquired Crosby's catalog, which according to the announcement includes his publishing and recorded music rights, including his solo work, as well as his work with the Byrds; Crosby & Nash; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young," as per Variety.
Former band member Neil Young released an open letter demanding his music be removed from the streaming service due to the Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation spread by Joe Rogan on his podcast. "I support free speech. I have never been in favor of censorship. Private companies have the right to choose what they profit from, just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that disseminates harmful information," said Young in his letter.
Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing Hi-Res audio to the masses, and it’s a great place to enjoy my entire catalog in the highest quality available.
— Neil Young Archives (@NeilYoungNYA) January 28, 2022
Thanks also to Apple Music (I LOVE APPLE) and Qobuz for sticking with my High Res music.
"I am happy and proud to stand in solidarity with the front-line health care workers who risk their lives every day to help others," he added. Crosby, Stills & Nash released a statement announcing their decision to pull their music from the platform in support of Young. The statement read, "We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify's Joe Rogan podcast."
"While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don't want our music — or the music we made together — to be on the same platform," it concluded.
Now Crosby, Stills and Nash quit Spotify. Wowzers.
— Daniel McCollister (@wehavethepeople) February 2, 2022
I wouldn’t want to purchase a streaming channel that didn’t have these foundational bands.
And to anyone STILL confused, this is NOT censorship. This statement from the band sums it up well.👇
Article: https://t.co/QoWG570Sad pic.twitter.com/G8btRvu4hr
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released a statement stating that the streaming service would introduce an advisory on podcasts that discuss Covid-19. Rogan promised in a clarification video posted on his Instagram, "I'll do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view."