A string of artists have come out in support of Neil Young over his stoush with Spotify.

The Harvest Moon legend made headlines earlier this week when he demanded his music be pulled from the streaming service over their support for The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast on which he frequently discusses medically dubious COVID-19 theories and treatments, including a discredited theory embraced by Eric Clapton claiming that ‘subliminal’ messages in YouTube videos are hypnotising the masses.

“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young wrote in the since-deleted open letter.

“I want all my music off their platform. They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.”

Spotify respected Young’s ultimatum by scrubbing his entire catalogue.

Shortly after doing so, Spotify is now dealing with a surge of criticism over their seeming backing of Rogan.

Now, various artists have also come forward in support of Young, most notably Nils Lofgren, former member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, who also had his music removed from Spotify in an act of solidarity.

“We will miss the $3.28 we get a year, but we will forge ahead righteously,” his wife said via Twitter.

Catherine Mayer, widow of Gang of Four’s Andy Gill who died early in the pandemic, wrote an open letter to Spotify condemning the streaming company’s decision.

“If my beloved husband, Andy Gill, hadn’t died at the start of the pandemic, he’d have strong and clear feelings about your decision to remove Neil Young’s music in favour of a podcast that has spread anti-vax misinformation,” she wrote.

“If vaccines had been available at the start of the pandemic, he’d be here to have that conversation with you. Instead, I must speak for him. And I have to tell you, as his widow, I feel sick about the business decision you’ve made.”

Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach also weighed in.

“Imagine calling yourself a rocker yet siding with some dude who has a podcast over Neil Young,” he said.

In a statement to Billboard, Spotify said: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”

Neil Young