Neil Young says streaming services have the ‘worst audio in history’, promptly pulls his song catalogue

The classic rocker, Neil Young, voiced his opinion on music streaming services earlier today on his Facebook page, saying that “Streaming sucks. Streaming is the worst audio in history”. He went on to say that his music is in the process of being removed from said streaming services. It’s always great seeing creative artists stand up for their principles, especially when it’s done for the fans. But is everything quite as clear-cut as he would like it to appear in his Facebook post?

“I was there.
AM radio kicked streaming’s ass.
Analog Cassettes and 8 tracks also kicked streaming’s ass,
and absolutely rocked compared to streaming.

Streaming sucks. Streaming is the worst audio in history.
If you want it, you got it. It’s here to stay.
Your choice.

Copy my songs if you want to. That’s free.
Your choice.

All my music, my life’s work, is what I am preserving the way I want it to be.

It’s already started. My music is being removed from all streaming services. It’s not good enough to sell or rent.

Make streaming sound good and I will be back.

Neil Young” (Facebook)

If you’re the cynical type, you may remember that Neil Young was involved with the Pono Music Player that raised over $6 million on KickStarter  and became available to purchase for $399 back in January. The Pono’s main claim to fame is that it ‘plays high-resolution music files better than any portable device‘. You can buy uncompressed music files from the PonoMusic store, including, you guessed it, Neil Young’s catalogue of songs. What I’m getting at here is, is this just a publicity stunt to force his fans to buy his songs from the Pono music store?

The truth is, who knows? It would be nice to be to take him at face value when he says that he just want’s to preserve his life’s work. But, stating that AM radio, 8-tracks and analog cassettes kicked streaming’s ass, that’s going to be a subjective view that is probably rose-tinted in nature.

At the end of the day, without trying to figure out his motives, he has a point. Music streaming services don’t offer a superior listening experience when compared to listening to a lossless FLAC music file on high quality speakers in the livingroom, but it may just be that the average streaming experience is good enough for most of us when we are out and about streaming music from our mobile devices.

If you’re a fan, are you disappointed by his decision to remove his songs from the various streaming services? Will you buy his albums for the PonoMusic Store? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Neil Young (Facebook & Twitter)
Image Credit: Neil Young (Facebook)

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