Neil Young has announced he is pulling his music from streaming services, saying 'it's about sound quality'.

The veteran musician took to Facebook to tell fans, "it's not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent."

Explaining that he's made the decision as a result of the sound quality on streaming services, Young said, "I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music.

"For me, It's about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that," he added.

In a follow-up post, he said he "will be back" if the quality of streaming audio improves, and said "all my music, my life's work, is what I am preserving the way I want it to be."

Neil Young has been a vocal supporter of higher fidelity digital sound quality, and has been involved in the creation and launch of the Pono player and accompanying download service as an alternative to compressed MP3s.

Young will now join a small but notable number of high-profile artists whose music is not available on streaming services. Others include The Beatles, metal band Tool, Thom Yorke, Prince and Garth Brooks.

However a few significant artists have finally made their music available on streaming services in the past few weeks. AC/DC released their albums on streaming services last month, while Taylor Swift has allowed her music on the new Apple Music service after the company changed policy following public criticism from the influential pop star.