Editing Neil Young (section)

==Business ventures==
Young was part owner of [[Lionel, LLC]], a company that makes toy trains and model railroad accessories.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Brick|title=Clanging New York Subways, Screeches Intact, Go Miniature|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/nyregion/21train.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 21, 2006|access-date=November 10, 2008}}</ref> In 2008 Lionel emerged from bankruptcy and his shares of the company were wiped out. He was instrumental in the design of the Lionel Legacy control system for model trains,<ref name="NYT" /> and remains on the board of directors of Lionel.<ref name="NYT12">{{cite news|title=Neil Young Comes Clean|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/neil-young-comes-clean.html|author=Carr, David|date=September 19, 2012|access-date=September 20, 2012|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> He has been named as co-inventor on seven US patents related to model trains.<ref>{{Cite patent|country=US|number=7264208}}, {{Cite patent|country=US|number=7211976}}, {{Cite patent|country=US|number=6765356}}, {{Cite patent|country=US|number=5749547}}, {{Cite patent|country=US|number=5555815}}, {{Cite patent|country=US|number=5441223}}, {{Cite patent|country=US|number=5251856}}</ref>

===PonoMusic===
Young has long held that the digital audio formats in which most people download music are deeply flawed, and do not provide the rich, warm sound of analog recordings. He claims to be acutely aware of the difference, and compares it with taking a shower in tiny ice cubes versus ordinary water.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|p=568|ps=. "It hurts. Did you ever go in a shower and turn it on and have it come out tiny little ice cubes? That's the difference between CDs and the real thing – water and ice. It's like gettin' ''hit'' with somethin' instead of havin' it flow over ya. It's almost taking music and making a weapon out of it – do physical damage to people without touching them. If you wanted to make a weapon that could destroy people, digital could do it, okay?" Neil Young}} Young and his company [[PonoMusic]] developed [[Pono (digital music service)|Pono]], a music download service and dedicated music player focusing on "high-quality" [[FLAC|uncompressed digital audio]].<ref name="arthur">{{cite web|last=Arthur|first=Charles|title=Pono: Only a Man Pays for Music Quality That He Can't Hear|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/05/pono-neil-young-24bit-192khz-review|work=The Guardian|date=April 5, 2014 |access-date=April 8, 2014|quote=Pono is the latest in a long line of attempts to give people "high-quality" recorded audio}}</ref> It was designed to compete against highly compressed [[MP3]] type formats. Pono promised to present songs "as they first sound during studio recording".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Geere|first=Duncan|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-09/30/neil-young|title=Neil Young's 'Pono' Is a Music Service and Player for Audiophiles|magazine=[[Wired UK]]|access-date=October 25, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102072811/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-09/30/neil-young|archive-date=November 2, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Michaels">{{cite news|last=Michaels|first=Sean|title=Neil Young to Take on Apple's iTunes Music Store|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/28/neil-young-apple-itunes|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=October 25, 2012|location=London|date=September 28, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Boilen">{{cite web|last=Boilen|first=Bob|title=Neil Young Wants You To Truly Hear Music|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/03/19/291130878/neil-young-wants-you-to-truly-hear-music|work=[[NPR]]|date=March 19, 2014|access-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref> The service and the sale of the player were launched in October 2014.<ref name="spin0314">{{cite web|last=Kamps|first=Garrett|title=Neil Young Pitches Pono Music Service at SXSW as Alternative to Digital 'Shit'|url=https://www.spin.com/2014/03/neil-young-pono-music-service-sxsw/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=March 12, 2014|access-date=March 14, 2014|quote=expect to receive their brand new, music-industry-saving Pono device in...October, at which point one presumes Pono will do a launch event}}</ref><ref name="tri">{{Triangulation|199|Neil Young}}</ref>

===Back catalog sale===
In January 2021, Young sold 50% of the rights to his back catalog to the British investment company [[Hipgnosis Songs Fund]]. The value was estimated to be at least $150&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/neil-young-sells-back-catalogue-for-150m-b2p0s2f2q|title=Neil Young Sells Back Catalogue for $150m|first=David |last=Sanderson|work=The Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Yadrissa|last=Shabong|url=https://www.independent.ie/business/world/after-the-gold-rush-neil-young-sells-50pc-stake-in-music-back-catalogue-39940560.html|title=After the Gold Rush: Neil Young Sells 50pc Stake in Music Back Catalogue|work=[[The Independent]]|date=January 7, 2021}}</ref>