Throughout his career on stage, Neil Young produced numerous hit songs. Not able to list every song, most remember “Heart of Gold”, “Harvest Moon”, and “Down by the River.” Besides selling millions of albums, the songwriter also received two Grammy Awards and even received an invitation into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not once, but twice. Considered one of the greatest musical artists by Rolling Stone, the singer decided to remove his music catalog from Amazon over corporate greed.
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Posting a statement on his website, Young criticized Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after he supposedly showed support for the current White House administration. “Forget Amazon and Whole Foods [supermarket chain owned by Amazon]. Forget Facebook. Buy local. Buy direct. [Jeff] Bezos supports this government. It does not support you or me.”
With Young removing his music from the platform, he hoped the stance would encourage his fans to take a stand against Amazon. “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.”
Not The First Time Neil Young Took On Corporate America
Over the last few years, Young became extremely vocal about his disdain for not just the White House administration but also corporations. It wasn’t that long ago that he removed his catalog from Spotify. And the reasoning for the decision – because Spotify distributed the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
While walking away from Spotify, the singer eventually returned after noticing that other streaming platforms supported similar podcasts. At the time, he explained, “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.”
Although knowing the importance of streaming, Young saw no other options after the recent government shutdown. Urging fans to “Take America Back”, he hoped they would stop buying from “big corporations.” Whether fans follow his lead or not, Young’s latest stand cements his reputation as an artist who refuses to compromise.
(Photo by Jo Hale/Redferns)
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