Amid the controversies surrounding Spotify and top-rating podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience," singer-songwriter Neil Young released another statement asking the employees of the giant streaming platform to "leave."
According to The Verge, which cited Variety in its report, Neil Young said through an open letter posted on his website that employees of Spotify should "get out of that place before it eats up your soul."
Furthermore , The Verge said, and as posted in the letter, that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is the "big problem" and not Joe Rogan, the comedian-podcaster who has been in controversies since late last month following a discussion regarding COVID-19 and vaccines.
Neil Young then furthered his claim by saying that the goals of CEO Ek are only "about numbers."
"The only goals stated by EK are about numbers - not art, not creativity," the post reads.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Neil Young has also urged the people to pull out their money from certain American banks. Those are Bank of America, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo.
Neil Young And Spotify Issue
Over the last weeks, Neil Young and Spotify have been in controversies related to a "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast episode that received criticisms for its COVID-19 and vaccines discussions.
Following the said podcast episode, Neil Young was reported to have posted messages and gave Spotify an ultimatum to choose between his music and "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.
In his open message, Neil Young requested that his songs be removed from Spotify as his protest against the controversial podcast episode.
Shortly after that, Neil Young's songs were removed from Spotify, giving listeners an insight that Spotify has chosen the said podcast.
Aside from Neil Young, there were also some prominent individuals who joined the protest such as Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, and Brene Brown.
Read Also : Brene Brown Tweets a Stop on Spotify Podcasts 'Unlocking Us' and 'Dare to Lead' Until Further Notice
The Controversies
According to a previous BBC report, the issue first started when a podcast episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" got criticized for "misinformation" about COVID-19. The comedian-podcaster discussed COVID-19 and vaccines with his guests.
After that, popular creators such as Neil Young as said above, protested against the issue.
Following the criticisms, Joe Rogan has then issued a public apology and said to "do better."
Meanwhile, amid all the controversies, Spotify launched actions such as the addition of "content warnings" to any podcast that includes discussion about COVID-19, which will then lead the listeners to a hub of COVID-19 data and facts.
Just Yesterday, Feb. 7, Spotify confirmed that a total of 113 episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" was removed from the platform.
