Fact Check: Springsteen, Pearl Jam And Dave Grohl Have NOT All Removed Music From Spotify

Fact Check

  • by: Alexis Tereszcuk
Fact Check: Springsteen, Pearl Jam And Dave Grohl Have NOT All Removed Music From Spotify No Exodus

Are Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Pearl Jam and Dave Grohl all removing their music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young? No, that's not true: Only Joni Mitchell actually did remove her music from the music streaming service in support of Young and his protest against Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The rest on the list still have their music on Spotify as of this writing.

The claim appeared as an article published by CelebNMusic247 on January 30, 2022, titled "Springsteen; Pearl Jam; Dave Grohl; All Remove Music From Spotify!" (archived here), which opened at the time of writing with:

Springsteen; Queen; Pearl Jam; Dave Grohl; All Remove Music From Spotify! Neil Young has the support of rock heavyweights to #DeleteSpotify

Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail at the time of writing:

Springsteen; Pearl Jam; Dave Grohl; All Remove Music From Spotify!

Springsteen; Queen; Pearl Jam; Dave Grohl; All Remove Music From Spotify! Neil Young has the support of rock heavyweights to #DeleteSpotify

The article cites this tweet for the information:

Spotify removed Neil Young's music at his request as a protest over Joe Rogan's podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" spreading COVID-19 misinformation. One episode with Dr. Robert Malone was criticized by over 200 professors and public health officials. Lead Stories has debunked multiple false claims by Malone about COVID.

Singer Joni Mitchell is the only person on the list from the tweet who followed suit and removed her music in solidarity with Young.

Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist, also pulled his music from Spotify but Springsteen did not.

Spotify released a statement on January 30, 2022, titled, "Spotify's Platform Rules and Approach to COVID-19." It read, in part:

We are working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19. This advisory will direct listeners to our dedicated COVID-19 Hub, a resource that provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources. This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days. To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform.

Rogan released a statement on January 30, 2022, saying he promised to "do better" in his podcast:

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Lead Stories is working with the CoronaVirusFacts/DatosCoronaVirus Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 fact-checkers who are fighting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about the alliance here.


  Alexis Tereszcuk

Alexis Tereszcuk is a writer and fact checker at Lead Stories and an award-winning journalist who spent over a decade breaking hard news and celebrity scoop with RadarOnline and Us Weekly.

As the Entertainment Editor, she investigated Hollywood stories and conducted interviews with A-list celebrities and reality stars.  

Alexis’ crime reporting earned her spots as a contributor on the Nancy Grace show, CNN, Fox News and Entertainment Tonight, among others.

Read more about or contact Alexis Tereszcuk

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