Remember Neil Young? Well, a Southern Man don’t need him around anyhow, but he’s back in the Apple Music lineup again. What? You didn’t know his music library was gone? Young thinks that digital music is a horrible thing, saying in 2012 that “Steve Jobs was a digital pioneer, but when he went home, he listened to vinyl” and then saying that “Those songs on your iPhone do sound like crap and it’s time we demand better-sounding alternative for our digital music.” So Young decided to create the PonoPlayer, which was going to be a better way to listen to digital music.
Last year, Young went even further and removed his music catalog from all streaming services, saying on Facebook that “I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution.” Music Ally is reporting that Neil Young has apparently decided he likes money more than sound quality, as he’s apparently quietly (out of character) given the thumbs-up to returning his catalog to streaming services.
Music Ally says that “Neil Young’s full back catalogue has returned to streaming services. His albums are now available to stream on Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music among others.”
As for the PonoPlayer? Go to the Pono music store and it’s “Under Construction.” Since the PonoPlayer had almost no sales, the store went down in July of this year as changes were made by content partner Omnifone and a new platform designed by 7digital was brought on line. Reviews of the PonoPlayer were brutal, like this one from Stereogum and another from Gizmodo.
Despite Young’s dislike of digital music, his music can still be found on iTunes.
