Joni Mitchell’s music has quietly returned to Spotify, more than two years after she followed Neil Young in protest at what she called “lies” about Covid-19 vaccines being spread on the streaming platform.
There has been no official announcement of Mitchell’s decision, but on Thursday fans on social media began to excitedly note the reappearance of some of her albums on Spotify. By Friday morning, most if not all of Mitchell’s original albums had returned, including such classics as “Blue” (1971), “Court and Spark” (1974) and “Mingus” (1979).
Representatives for the singer-songwriter, her labels and Spotify either did not respond or had no comment when asked Thursday and Friday about the apparent return of Mitchell’s albums.
In January 2022, in a post on her website titled “I Stand With Neil Young!”, Mitchell said she would be removing all of her music from Spotify. Young had done so after criticizing the service for its support of Joe Rogan, the podcast star whose show had come under fire from doctors and public health officials who said some of Rogan’s guests promoted misinformation about Covid vaccines .
“Irresponsible people spread lies that cost people their lives,” Mitchell wrote.
Young returned his music to Spotify last week, saying, “My decision comes as the Apple and Amazon music services began offering the same misinformation podcast features that I had opposed to Spotify.” Rogan previously had an exclusive deal with Spotify, which has since been renewed — for $250 million — to allow his show to be distributed on other platforms.
Mitchell, 80, has become more active in recent years after an aneurysm in 2015 left her initially unable to speak. She has performed several shows, including the 2022 Newport Folk Festival and the Grammy Awards in February, and is set to play two ‘Joni Jam’ shows at the Hollywood Bowl in October, alongside Brandi Carlile and others.
