Quebec singer Gilles Vigneault withdraws music from Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation
Vigneault, 93, says he is standing in solidarity with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell
A renowned Quebec musician is withdrawing all of his songs from Spotify, joining two other celebrated artists who accuse the music-streaming giant of giving free rein to misinformation.
Gilles Vigneault, 93, said in a statement Monday that he is standing in solidarity with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell by removing his music from Spotify.
Vigneault is an award-winning songwriter, singer and poet who wrote songs considered by many to be the province's unofficial anthems: Mon pays and Gens du pays.
Last week, Young released a letter addressed to his manager and to the Warner Music Group record label demanding that Spotify no longer carry his music because he said popular podcaster Joe Rogan spreads misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
On Wednesday, the Canadian-born singer, known for songs such as Heart of Gold and Rockin' In the Free World, thanked his record label for "standing with me in my decision to pull all my music from Spotify," and he encouraged other musicians to do the same.
"Spotify has become the home of life-threatening COVID misinformation," he said on his website. "Lies being sold for money."
Then on Friday, Mitchell said she was following Young's lead and seeking to remove all of her music from Spotify.
"Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," Mitchell said Friday in a message posted on her website.
Spotify, which has seen its market value plummet since Young's announcement, has said it has policies in place to remove misleading content from its platform and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
In a post Sunday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek laid out more transparent platform rules given the backlash.
"Personally, there are plenty of individuals and views on Spotify that I disagree with strongly," wrote Ek. "It is important to me that we don't take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them."
Ek said nothing specific about Rogan, who has a $100-million contract with the streaming service, and is the centrepiece of the controversy with his show, The Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan is known for belittling those who wear masks, and telling young people they shouldn't get vaccinated.
Last month, Rogan interviewed Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious diseases specialist who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation.
Rogan responded to the fallout on Sunday, saying in a video on Instagram that he was only seeking to have conversations on his podcast with people who have "differing opinions."
"I'm not trying to promote misinformation. I'm not trying to be controversial," Rogan said. "I've never tried to do anything with this podcast other than to just talk to people."