Neil Young is encouraging his listeners to reject “big corporations who have sold out America” and instead “buy local” as he announced plans this week to remove his music from Amazon.
In a post on the Neil Young Archives website, the 79-year-old rocker called out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for supporting the government that “does not support you or me.” He referenced the ongoing shutdown of the federal government.
It was unclear if Young intended to pull his streaming catalog off Amazon Music or stop the e-commerce site from selling physical copies of his albums, or both.
The “Heart of Gold” singer has dozens of albums available to stream on Amazon Music and his page has more than 555,000 followers.
In 2022, Young pulled his music from Spotify after he was upset with that streaming platform for hosting popular podcaster Joe Rogan, who Young said was spreading Covid vaccine misinformation at the time.
He returned in 2023, explaining that “music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify … 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.”
Bezos is among numerous tech leaders who offered congratulations and pledged support to President Trump after he recaptured The White House last year.
GeekWire reached out to Amazon for comment and we’ll update this story if we hear back.
Here’s the full text of Young’s post:
“FORGET AMAZON AND WHOLE FOODS.
FORGET FACEBOOK.
BUY LOCAL. BUY DIRECT.
BEZOS SUPPORTS THIS GOVERNMENT. IT DOES NOT SUPPORT YOU OR ME.”
“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.”