Neil Young removes music from streaming services
Earlier this month, Neil Young announced on Facebook his intent to remove his catalog from streaming services. “I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution,” the post reads. “I don’t feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It’s bad for my music.” Today, it appears that threat has been fulfilled, according to a report from Variety. Almost all of Young’s albums have been removed from Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and Rdio. Drag.
Not everything is gone, however; the albums that Neil Young recorded for Geffen in the 1980s—1982’s Trans, 1983’s Everybody’s Rockin’, 1985’s Old Ways, 1986’s Landing on Water and 1987’s Life—are still there. But if you wanted to stream your way from After the Gold Rush to Harvest to On the Beach? That’s not going to happen.
In the past, Young indicated that a rise in sound quality might get him to put his catalog back on streaming services, but for now, you’ll have to just rely on MP3s or, um, Pono.
Read our list of 10 Albums Not on Apple Music, which now, apparently, should be amended to feature Neil Young.
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.