Neil Young is getting his own channel on SiriusXM, a day after Spotify said it was removing the “Heart of Gold” songwriter’s music after he protested vaccine misinformation on the streaming service.
The channel, dubbed “Neil Young Radio,” will run for a week starting on Thursday, SiriusXM announced. Neil Young Radio — which will feature “music and exclusive stories” from the musician — will also be available for a month on the SXM app.
The channel, SiriusXM teased, “will provide fans access to the entire musical world” of Young, including “rarities and exclusives” along with stories Young himself about his songs.
The move comes a day after Spotify said it was eliminating the 76-year-old performer’s music after Young delivered an ultimatum that it could not provide a platform to both him and Joe Rogan.
“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 said in a letter earlier this week of comments made by the controversial podcast host of “The Joe Rogan Experience” on his show streamed by Spotify.
“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,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a Wednesday statement.
“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,” the statement said.
Representatives for SiriusXM didn’t immediately return The Hill’s request for comment about whether the launch of Neil Young Radio was tied to the Spotify dustup.
The Young-focused station has popped up before on SiriusXM’s airwaves, recently launching as a limited-run channel in December.