Neil Young has joined performers such as Taylor Swift and Prince in removing his music from the majority of streaming services, however he cites audio quality and not financial elements for the decision. The godfather of grunge has always been an audio-obsessive, but there's a chance that this recent decision was simply to help boost use of his personal service, Pono.
"Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans," he wrote on his Facebook account. "It's about sound quality. I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music...For me, It's about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that. When the quality is back, I'll give it another look. Never say never."
That's quite a large collection of albums for Spotify et al to be pulling this week. We don't have Young's total album count in front of us at the moment, but as we noted last week, he's put at least 40 records in the Top 40 during his lifetime.
Most of the big names who have pulled their respective catalogues from streaming sites have done so for financial reasons. Swift has been vocal about her feelings for the royalty rates that services such as Spotify offer per stream. However, some stars have been oddly selective, offering their music on Apple Music (Swift) and Tidal (Prince) despite similar payouts for performers.
Granted, if it were entirely about the audio and not the money, it's odd that Young's discography is still largely available on iTunes. Young launched his Pono Music service last year, offering higher quality digital music than mp3s or CDs, but it doesn't look like he's comfortable letting that be the only digital retailer for his music.
Here's hoping he changes his mind soon. I can't bring my record player with me on a road trip.
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