Spotify has begun removing music by Neil Young after the rock star called for the streaming platform to choose between him and podcaster Joe Rogan.
Accusing him of Covid misinformation, Young told Spotify this week: "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both."
Rogan has been criticised for interviewing an infectious disease specialist who opposes Covid-19 vaccines for children.
Spotify said it "regrets" the move and hopes he returns to the platform soon.
The Canadian-American musician behind classic rock hits such as Harvest Moon and Heart of Gold publicly accused Spotify on Monday of "spreading fake information about vaccines - potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them".
In another statement posted to his website on Wednesday he called the music streaming giant "the home of life-threatening Covid misinformation", adding: "Lies being sold for money." He also thanked his record label, Warner Brothers-owned Reprise Records, for supporting his decision, saying that around 60% of all of his streamed music comes from Spotify listeners. "Thank you Warner Brothers for standing with me and taking the hit - losing 60% of my worldwide streaming income in the name of Truth,"
he wrote online. Spotify reportedly paid $100m (£75m) for rights to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020. The programme is the top podcast on Spotify, drawing millions of listeners to each episode.
On Wednesday, Spotify replied to the singer's ultimatum.
"We want all the world's music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators," it said. "We have detailed content policies in place and we've removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic."