Neil Young made headlines when he pulled his music from Spotify in protest of the streaming service’s broadcasting of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, citing “unfactual, misleading and false COVID information.” But Young is not the only artist to be involved in the Spotify controversy.
On Thursday, Feb. 3, a Twitter user wrote, “Barbara Streisand threatens to remove music from Spotify if it doesn’t deplatform Joe Rogan immediately.” That tweet has neary 16,000 likes and thousands of retweets. Facebook users also shared the same claim.
THE QUESTION
Did Barbra Streisand say she would remove her music from Spotify over the controversy surrounding Joe Rogan’s podcast?
THE SOURCES
- Tweet from Barbra Streisand
- Representative for Streisand
- Spotify search
THE ANSWER
No, Barbra Streisand didn’t say she would remove her music from Spotify over the controversy surrounding Joe Rogan’s podcast.
WHAT WE FOUND
On Feb. 5, Streisand said on Twitter that “someone impersonating her” released a statement about the Spotify situation.
“I applaud the musicians who have pulled their music because of Joe Rogan’s statements,” Streisand wrote. “I will review the situation further and make my own decision. But social media has become a haven for disinformation and a threat to democracy.”
A search shows Streisand’s music is still available on Spotify as of Monday, Feb. 7. Additionally, a representative for Streisand said in a phone call with VERIFY that claims about the artist pulling her music from the streaming service aren’t true.
The account that tweeted about Streisand threatening to remove her music from Spotify has no ties to the artist and also misspells her name as “Barbara” in the tweet.
A similar rumor about Barry Manilow removing his music from Spotify around the same time as Young circulated on social media, but the singer refuted the claim in a tweet. Manilow wrote that he “doesn’t know where it started, but it didn’t start with me or anyone who represents me.” His music also remains on the platform as of Feb. 7.
In contrast, a search for “Neil Young” shows that his music, apart from a handful of live recordings and collaborations, has been removed from the platform following his request. Young wrote on his website in late January that his music would be removed from Spotify.
Joni Mitchell also said she decided to remove her music from Spotify in an effort to “stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities.” All but four of Mitchell’s albums have been removed from the streaming service.
In late December 2021, a coalition of medical professionals wrote an open letter to Spotify expressing their concerns about COVID-19 misinformation on Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” In the letter, the coalition called on Spotify to “immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.”
VERIFY reached out to Spotify for comment but has not received a response at the time of publishing.
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