Neil Young has never been shy about voicing his opinions, and he's often put his money where his mouth is. He recently discontinued his use of Facebook and Instagram, citing parent company Meta's "use of chatbots with children." Before that, in 2022, Young took his music off Spotify to protest Joe Rogan spreading misinformation about vaccines on his Spotify-distributed podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. However, he put his catalog back on the service in 2024, noting that other streaming platforms were circulating podcasts that made similar claims about vaccines.
"My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at SPOTIFY," Young wrote at the time. "I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all, so I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it. Qobuz and Tidal, where my music is presented, are all High res as well."
A year and a half later, he is leaving Amazon. In his latest post on Neil Young Archives, Young announced that his music will soon be removed from Amazon. In the message, he urged his fans to boycott Amazon, noting Jeff Bezos' support of Donald Trump's administration, and encouraged people to support local businesses instead.
"FORGET AMAZON AND WHOLE FOODS. FORGET FACEBOOK," begins Young's message. "BUY LOCAL. BUY DIRECT. BEZOS SUPPORTS THIS GOVERNMENT. IT DOES NOT SUPPORT YOU OR ME."
Young continues:
The time is here.
FORGET AMAZON.
Soon my music will not be there. It is easy to buy local. Support your community.
Go to the local store.
Don't go back to the big corporations who have sold out America.
We all have to give up something to save America from the Corporate Control Age it is entering.
They need you to buy from them.
Don't.
They shut down our government
your income
your safety
your family's health security.
Take America Back
together, stop buying from the
big corporations
support local business.
Do the right thing. Show who you are.
It's unclear whether he means he's merely removing his digital music library from Amazon Music or if he's taking his physical products off Amazon too. That would be quite the gesture, but it would be consistent with the argument he's making here.
