Travis Tritt: David Crosby 'Stupid' for Bid To Pull Spotify Songs He Does not Own

Travis Tritt has called David Crosby "stupid," after the singer-songwriter announced that he wants a portion of his music removed from Spotify amid backlash over Joe Rogan's podcast on the streaming platform.

Crosby on Wednesday joined forces with his former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates to release a statement in which they said that they didn't want their music on Spotify as they accused Rogan of spreading COVID misinformation on his show.

However, country musician Tritt stated in a series of Twitter posts on Thursday that Crosby no longer owns any of his music, after announcing last year that he had sold the music recording and publishing rights to his entire catalog.

"Since David Crosby is trending over demanding that his music be pulled from @Spotify, I'd like to point out that he sold his catalog last year and doesn't own or control his music catalog anymore," Tritt tweeted.

When a Twitter user said that Crosby "admitted as much [about his catalog] two days ago," Tritt responded: "Then he is stupid."

BlazeTV host Steve Deace quote tweeted Tritt's message, mockingly adding: "lol at these freaking hippie boomer hacks."

"It is kinda funny when you think about it," Tritt said in response to Deace. "All for show. No substance."

Another Twitter user suggested to Tritt that Crosby is merely "doing what he is told by those who bought his catalog," prompting the musician to write: "On the contrary. I would imagine that the company who bought his catalog is not happy with Crosby's statements because it costs them money."

The singer stated that Crosby had "bragged in interviews that selling his catalog allowed him to pay off the mortgage on his house."

Tritt also revealed that he was in the same position as Crosby with his music, as he tweeted: "I did sell my catalog last year just like [Bruce] Springsteen, [Bob] Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Journey, Culture Club, etc.

"The biggest reason for me selling was not to leave a huge headache for my family that would have to try to administrate a catalog. I'd rather leave them cash."

In March 2021, it was announced that Crosby had sold his catalog to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group for an undisclosed sum. The sale included the works of the Byrds, Crosby & Nash, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Crosby Stills Nash & Young, per The Guardian.

"Given our current inability to work live, this deal is a blessing for me and my family and I do believe these are the best people to do it with," he said in a press release at the time.

On December 7, 2020, when news emerged of Dylan selling his music catalog, Crosby revealed plans to do the same, citing the ongoing COVID pandemic.

"I am selling mine also," he wrote. "I can't work…and streaming stole my record money …I have a family and a mortgage and I have to take care of them so it's my only option …I'm sure the others feel the same."

In January Young issued an ultimatum to Spotify to ditch Rogan's show or he would withdraw his music from the platform. When Spotify responded by standing by the former Fear Factor host, moves were made to take down Young's work.

Crosby, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills have since joined Young in protest, saying in a joint statement this week: "We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify's Joe Rogan podcast.

"While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences.

"Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don't want our music—or the music we made together—to be on the same platform."

Other musicians—including Joni Mitchell, India Arie and Nils Lofgren—have also expressed intentions to remove their music from Spotify in protest of Rogan's show remaining on the platform.

While Rogan has defended his "very highly credentialed, highly intelligent, very accomplished" vaccine skeptic podcast guests Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, he has also vowed to add more balance to his show.

He said in a video shared on Instagram on Sunday: "If there's anything I've done that I could do better, that is to have more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones. I would most certainly be open to doing that.

"I would like to talk to some people that have differing opinions on those podcasts in the future. We'll see. I do all the scheduling myself. I don't always get it right."

Rogan told his listeners: "My pledge to you is that I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.

"I don't want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is. I want to show all kinds of opinions, so that we can all figure out what's going on—and not just about COVID, about everything. About health, about fitness wellness, the state of the world itself."

In January about 270 U.S. doctors, scientists, health care professionals and professors wrote to Spotify to share their concerns about The Joe Rogan Experience. The letter accused Rogan of having a "concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic."