Over the past few months, a groundswell of indie artists have chosen to cut ties with Spotify in protest of CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek’s ties to the defense company Helsing.
Well-known indie acts like Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu have led the exodus, while Australian psych rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are arguably the biggest band to remove their music from the streaming service. While their departures may represent a drop in the bucket that is Spotify’s music offerings, their decisions appear to be rooted in anti-war principles and the hope that their actions could spark a larger movement.
As King Gizzard wrote when they announced their decision to leave back in July, “Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?”
Spotify has faced plenty of protests over the years, with artists declining to make their music available for a variety of reasons. Early on, before Spotify had fully become the dominant force in music that it is now, many artists criticized the streaming royalty model, with Taylor Swift famously pulling her music in 2014 and saying at the time, “I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music.”
Spotify’s payout system has continued to face steep criticism over the years, especially as it’s become clear that the royalty pool model tends to most benefit the most popular artists in the world, like Swift. This issue was also frequently cited as artists discussed why they are now leaving the service.
But in recent years, most artists have chosen to leave Spotify for more political and cultural reasons. In 2022, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell both removed their music from Spotify in protest of the $250 million podcasting deal the company signed with Joe Rogan. (Both Young and Mitchell wound up putting their music back on Spotify a few years later.)
As for Ek’s ties to Helsing — a German defense tech company with a particular focus on artificial intelligence — the CEO previously garnered criticism after his venture capital firm Prima Materials invested more than $100 million into the start-up in 2021. This new wave of protests, though, was sparked by the news earlier this summer that Ek was now the Chairman of Helsing; that Prima Materials had raised over $700 million for the company; and that Helsing’s focus on defense software had expanded to manufacturing drones, aircraft, and submarines.
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In an interview with The Financial Times in June, Ek rebuffed any criticism he might face over his ties to Helsing. “Personally, I’m not concerned about it,” he said. “I focus more on doing what I think is right and I am 100 per cent convinced that this is the right thing for Europe.”
As for the artists leaving Spotify over its CEO also profiting off of a war machine, their statements suggest they, too, are focused less on streaming numbers and doing what they think is right.
King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard
The Australian psych band removed their enormous catalog of music — 27 studio albums alone, not to mention an array of live records — from Spotify in July. In a short statement on Instagram Stories, they wrote: “Hello friends… A PSA to 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?… Join us on another platform.”
Since then, King Gizzard have encouraged their fans to engage with their music on other platforms, especially Bandcamp, where they’ve made their albums available on a pay-what-you-want basis.
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Turn-of-the-millenium indie favorites Deerhoof announced they were leaving Spotify in June. “We don’t want our music killing people,” the band said in a statement. “We don’t want our success being tied to AI battle tech. We are privileged that it was a pretty easy decision for us. Spotify only pays a pittance anyway, and we earn a lot more from touring. But we also understand that other artists and labels do rely on Spotify for a bigger chunk of their income, and don’t judge those who can’t make the same move in the short term.”
They continued: “AI battle tech is clearly emerging as the hot new big ticket item for the super-rich. It’s increasingly clear that the military and police exist primarily as the security detail for the billionaire class. The more of the killing you can get computers to do, the better your bottom line. Computerized targeting, computerized extermination, computerized destabilization for profit, successfully tested on the people of Gaza, also finally solves the perennial inconvenience to war-makers–It takes human compassion and morality out of the equation.”
Xiu Xiu
The experimental outfit founded by Jamie Stewart took their music off Spotify in July, and encouraged listeners to cancel their subscriptions to the streaming service as well. “Reason: Spotify uses music money to invest in AI war drones,” the band wrote on Instagram.
They added: “We are currently working to take all of our music off of garbage hole violent armageddon portal Spotify. It is taking longer than we had hoped due to procedurally [sic] complications but will be completed soon. Thanks for the support and patience. For all the reasons you already know.”
After pulling their music from Spotify, Xiu Xiu threw their support behind a new music streaming platform, Coda Music. Stewart said in a statement accompanying its launch, “Music is sacred. It is the first form of organized emotional, spiritual, social and physical expression. This primary human culture deserves care and respect. Coda, within the rightly maligned but inevitable world of streaming, is working to give music fans and working musicians a home where they can find this care and respect. When Xiu Xiu left Spotify to protest their choice to become war profiteers, hundreds of people asked us where they should listen to music. Coda is working to be that place.”
Hotline TNT
In August, NYC-based rock outfit Hotline TNT yanked their music, with frontman Will Anderson saying, “The company that bills itself as the steward of all recorded music has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that it does not align with the band’s values in any way. A cooler world is possible.”
The Mynabirds
Laura Burhenn, who leads the Omaha-based group the Mynabirds, announced in July that she had deleted her personal Spotify account and was working with her label, Saddle Creek, to remove her music. (She thanked Saddle Creek too “for their support of my decision.”)
In explaining her decision, Burhenn said, “I will not allow my songs to be turned into bombs. I will not participate in a system that platforms AI music, which perpetuates the devaluation of myself and all other creatives. I will not run in a race to the bottom where billionaire oligarchs get richer while the rest of [us] fight each other for crumbs, and starve — both literally and spiritually.”
She continued: “Spotify is the same system of harm we see perpetuated everywhere: the worldwide move — especially in the US — to defund all that cares for and feeds us in exchange for funding war, hate, racism, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism and tax breaks for the wealthiest few that makes the rich richer while we fight for crumbs & starve — literally and spiritually.”
WU LYF
This Manchester, England indie outfit actually pulled their one album — 2011’s Go Tell Fire to the Mountain — from streaming services earlier this year as they prepared to announce a reunion tour. In a statement posted in September, they said, “There were several conversations that led to this decision, circling around a disdain for what the Spotify algorithm and economics has done to music culture. Since then we’ve all learned about the Spotify CEO’s investment in A.I. weaponry and seen several bands we respect make statements about removing their music.”
Subsequently, WU LYF decided to not only keep Go Tell Fire to the Mountain off streaming services, but also make their new single, “A New Life Is Coming” unavailable as well. “Nothing ever changes unless we have the courage to try (and perhaps fail) to do things differently,” they wrote.
Kadhja Bonet
Singer-songwriter Kadhja Bonet announced that she would not only keep her music off Spotify going forward, but other major streaming platforms, too, in an overarching protest against big tech.
“We give these tech giants power by furnishing them with all of our best ideas and driving business their way,” she wrote, adding: “It didn’t seem right to overlook the human rights violations Apple is accused of, Deezer’s owner actively squashing pro-Palestine protests, Google’s (YouTube’s) cooperation in surveillance and military drone technology — and so on — so for me it wasn’t enough to stop providing Spotify with my new music. I’m also not supplying new music to Apple, Deezer, Amazon or Youtube. People tell me I have committed career suicide by taking my music off major streamers but I don’t really care. I have faith that artists can paint the picture of an alternate reality and lead the way to it.”
Young Widows
The Louisville-based outfit called Ek’s ties to Helsing a “breaking point” in the statement announcing their decision to leave Spotify. “To think that our fans money is being used to invest in future machines to kill the innocent is beyond inhumane and unacceptable. We do understand that there is truly no just capitalism and every large company in existence has either direct ties or personnel within that are funding means to control, exploit, and manipulate the people. We are more than aware that every streaming platform has its flaws and until people value artists enough to realize streaming has an overall negative impact on music, we will continue to use the other platforms currently available. We do not apologize for the inconvenience.”
Chad VanGaalen
The Calgary-based singer-songwriter said he worked with his labels, Sub Pop and Flemish Eye, to get his music off of Spotify. “I don’t want my art to be part of that,” he said, noting both Spotify’s donation to Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, as well as Ek’s Helsing ties. “And my art doesn’t need to be part of that,” he added.
VanGaalen also made his entire discography available for free on Bandcamp after removing it from Spotify.
Kalahari Oyster Cult (label)
The Amsterdam-based electronic label announced their decision to take all their catalog off Spotify after discussing the move with their artists. “As a label, and in consultation with the artists we represent, we don’t want our music contributing to or benefiting a platform led by someone backing tools of war, surveillance, and violence,” they wrote. “Keeping our work on Spotify would mean going against everything we stand for.”
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David Bridie
The celebrated Australian singer-songwriter announced his decision to leave Spotify in an op-ed in The Guardian with the pointed headline: “Spotify used to seem like a necessary evil for musicians. Now it just seems evil.”
His piece cited the platform’s “insulting and completely unsustainable” royalty model, especially for independent artists, as well as Ek’s links to Helsing. “Ek isn’t paid a salary by Spotify – he takes a share of its stock, last year alone cashing out a reported $345m,” he wrote. “So here we are, artists helping to build algorithms to sell our music — and the success of that algorithm determines the flow of wealth to a man who invests in building machines that could kill people.”
