Artists Remove Music from Spotify Following CEO’s Funding of AI Military Tech

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard playing the Wide Awake Festival at Brockwell Park in London on May 25, 2024. Credit: Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons

A slew of indie artists have removed their music from Spotify in protest of CEO Daniel Ek’s nearly $700 million funding of AI military technology. This signifies a trend of artists removing their music from the platform in an effort to put moral pressure on the company.

On June 30, the California indie rock band Deerhoof announced its departure from Spotify. In a post entitled “Bye Spotify” on the band’s website, the group states, “‘Daniel Ek uses $700 million of his Spotify fortune to become chairman of AI battle tech company’ was not a headline we enjoyed reading this week. We don’t want our music killing people. We don't want our success being tied to AI battle tech.”

The “AI battle tech” mentioned by Deerhoof refers to Daniel Ek’s investment in Helsing, a German-based defense company that utilizes AI to create military technology, such as drones. Led by Ek’s investment company, Prima Materia, a $693 million investment was poured into Helsing, funding the use of AI and the creation of military weaponry. 

The massive amount of money funnelled into this technology by Ek and the cause it supports was enough to send shockwaves into the indie rock scene, fueling this mass departure of artists from Spotify. Nearly a month after Deerhoof’s removal from Spotify, experimental rock band Xiu Xiu announced it was also parting ways with the platform for the same reasons.

Almost immediately following Xiu Xiu, Australian rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, known for their energetic live performances and 27 studio albums that span genres, also announced that they would be removing all their music from the platform.

In a post from the band’s Instagram story on Jul. 25, the band wrote, “A PSA to all those unaware: Spotify CEO Daniel EK invests millions in AI military drone technology. We just removed our music from the platform. Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?”

While King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard seemed to have been the last group to take their music off the platform, on Aug. 17, Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor has followed suit.

While the allocation of the funds invested by Ek is uncertain, many of these artists have made it clear that they do not want their music attributed to a platform that supports the creation of mass weapons of destruction, especially with the ongoing war in Gaza.

Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, King Gizzard and Goodspeed You! Black Emperor’s departures from Spotify all follow the trend of rebellion and defiance against corruption from music artists in the past several months.

One of the most notoriously controversial acts in music right now, Irish rap group Kneecap, who are known for lyrics in their native tongue, lead the charge in using music as a form of protest. The group performed a politically charged set at Glastonbury, which was characterized by a sea of Palestinian flags in the audience and chants of “Free Palestine” and “Free Mo Chara,” referring to Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh’s terror charge from the British government. 

Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury was also highly anticipated as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer deemed it “not appropriate” for Kneecap to play their set at the festival.

Fellow Irish group Fontaines D.C. displayed screens at their set at the Primavera Sound festival in Spain that read “Israel is committing genocide. Use your voice,” and “Free Palestine.” 

While more popular artists such as Kneecap and Fontaines D.C. have not joined the pack in taking their music off of Spotify, they use their platform in a more blatant way that encourages audiences to use their voices to stand up for their own morals.

Additionally, the tradition of artists removing music from Spotify is not a unique one, as legendary musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell took their music off the streaming service in 2022, protesting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation spread by Joe Rogan on his popular podcast.

Though Young and Mitchell were unsuccessful with their music removal protests, this new wave of artists could trigger a response from Spotify as more and more music keeps being removed from the platform, and artists are calling out the company for its corruption.

It is also important to note that these bands that parted ways with Spotify aren’t just obscure groups with a small amount of monthly listeners; King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard amassed nearly 1.5 million monthly listeners, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor garnered around 213,000 monthly listeners when they still existed on the platform. With both of these bands being big names in their respective genres, their departure from Spotify left a noticeable void in its musical catalog.

Even if this group of indie artists is unsuccessful in their opposition to Spotify, their resilience is something that does not go unnoticed. The decision to leave the platform adds more insight into the message that these artists intend to put out for listeners, and by sacrificing their art, they show that artistic agency is one of the most important things an artist can possess.

There has been no response yet from Spotify regarding the artists who have removed their music and publicly shamed the streaming service for its CEO’s financial actions. As the number of artists leaving Spotify continues to grow, hope still remains that an ethical change will be made within the company, catalyzed by these pioneering artists and their defiant nature.