Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl are not among the artists who removed music from Spotify

After Neil Young demanded that Spotify remove his music over COVID-19 misinformation spread by podcaster Joe Rogan, a lot of things happened almost all at once.

Spotify members started to cancel their accounts and other artists, like singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, began to follow Young’s lead.

But one article circulating online goes a little too far; it wrongly claims that artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl removed their music from Spotify, too.

"Springsteen; Queen; Pearl Jam; Dave Grohl; All Remove Music From Spotify!" reads a headline published on a blog called "CelebNMusic247."

There is no evidence that these artists have asked to leave the streaming platform.

The story cited a viral tweet as its source. It said:

"Breaking 🚨 Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Queen, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Dave Grohl, Joni Mitchell, Pearl Jam are removing their music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young!!! #Spotify can keep the fascists. #DeletedSpotify."

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As of Jan. 31, Mitchell is the only person listed who requested for her music to be removed. Nils Lofgren, guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, also asked for his music to be pulled from Spotify, but Springsteen did not. Lofrgen played piano and guitar on Young’s album, "After the Gold Rush," and has played on and off with Young’s band for years.

Music by the other artists still appears on the platform. There have been no credible news reports or updates of otherwise on their social media accounts or websites.

Rogan defended his approach to the podcast in a Jan. 30 Instagram video, though he did say his show has grown "out of control" and vowed to "try harder" to be more balanced. 

Rogan has made several inaccurate claims about the COVID-19 vaccines and allowed vaccine skeptics to promote misinformation on his popular show. Video of his interview with Dr. Robert Malone, a former mRNA vaccine researcher, was banned by several social media platforms for violating COVID-19 standards — but not by Spotify. In mid January, more than 270 scientists and doctors signed an open letter asking Spotify to "immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform."

So far in response, Spotify has published its platform rules and said it’s working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19.

A headline claimed that Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Pearl Jam and Dave Grohl have pulled their music from Spotify.

Some artists and content producers have requested that their content be removed from the streaming platform, but there is no evidence that these musicians are among them.

We rate this claim False.