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Neil Young calls on baby boomers to boycott four big banks after pulling music from Spotify 'Ditch the companies contributing to the mass fossil fuel destruction of Earth' Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Article content Neil Young appears to be laying another stake in the ground.
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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Neil Young calls on baby boomers to boycott four big banks after pulling music from Spotify Back to video The musician called on baby boomers to “ditch the companies contributing to the mass fossil fuel destruction of Earth,” and proceeded to encourage people take their money from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. “Join me as I move my money away from the damage causers or you will unintentionally be one of them,” Young said in a post on his website dated Monday. The 76-year-old recently contributed to a wave of negative attention toward Spotify Technology SA over Joe Rogan’s podcast, removing his music and prompting others to join him. Join me as I move my money away from the damage causers or you will unintentionally be one of them Young’s criticism of the streaming service did not escape his Monday post when he addressed the company’s employees, saying Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek is “your big problem — not Joe Rogan.”
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Article content “Get out of that place before it eats up your soul,” Young said. Song streams jump Meanwhile, more people are listening to Young’s music even after he left Spotify, with streams up 38 per cent, according to his music publisher. Merck Mercuriadis, whose fund owns 50 per cent rights to Young’s catalog, said interest in the artist’s music has surged since he requested the streaming service remove his songs after accusing Rogan, Spotify’s most-popular podcaster, of spreading vaccine misinformation on his show. Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images “The interesting thing about Neil is that his consumption has gone up in the two weeks since he came off the service,” Mercuriadis said in an interview with Francine Lacqua on “Bloomberg Surveillance Early Edition” Tuesday. “We’re at 38 per cent up in streaming alone, and we’re hundreds of percentages up in terms of album sales and that.”
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Article content Mercuriadis said he backed Young’s position to take on the music streamer last month. Young’s move has since inspired other artists and consumers to cancel Spotify, whether by taking down their creative content from the platform or ceasing subscriptions. The controversy has also thrown Spotify into the spotlight as it grapples with implementing content standards. Spotify’s chief executive apologized Sunday to staff for the impact the controversy over Rogan’s podcast has had on them after internal dissent in the company has heightened, but said he didn’t agree with calls to drop the broadcaster from the service. Spotify should “put health warnings on (Joe Rogan’s) podcasts and I think they should stand up and applaud Neil for taking a strong position,” Mercuriadis said, although he added that he doesn’t think Spotify should “cut off” Rogan.
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