Neil Young's boycott of Spotify has had a major media impact, and shortly after the artist announced that he was leaving the streaming service at the end of January, his album began to disappear from the platform.

Artist colleague Joni Mitchell followed Young's example and soon her music also began to be taken down.

Both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are affiliated with Reprise Records, a record company owned by Warner music.

The companies have supported the artists' decision to take down their music from the streaming service, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Big hits remain

But not all music is gone.

If you search for Neil Young on Spotify, you will find, among other things, Heart of gold - the super hit that gave Young a first place on the American billboard list in 1972. Big hits such as Harvest moon and Rockin 'in the free world are also on the streaming service.

The songs are in those cases part of a movie soundtrack or a compilation album.

This means that they are covered by rights other than the album an artist released via their record company.

For Joni Mitchell's part, there are several albums left on Spotify, records released via the record company Geffen records.

- The question of who has the right to take down a certain recording from a certain service is about who has the right to dispose of a recording.

Then the artist has entered into an agreement with the record company, says music lawyer Eva Karman Reinhold.

What difference does it make if a song is on a movie soundtrack or a compilation album?

- Everything is basically contract law.

If the record company that has the rights to a recording has made an agreement with a film company that wants to include the music in a film, it is the agreements that govern.

There are many parties that must agree, says Eva Karman Reinhold.

She believes that the music industry's contractual principles are easier to explain if you envisage a physical record store where the consumer goes shopping.

- Today, the whole process has been lifted in a digital world.

The digital services function as today's record store, says Eva Karman Reinhold.