“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,” their founder shared
Shoegaze-influenced band Hotline TNT has become the latest in a series of musicians to pull their music from Spotify. In a statement posted to the group’s Instagram, founder Will Anderson wrote: “We are leaving the Spotify streaming service. 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.”
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While Hotline did not specify the reason behind their departure, artists have been threatening to leave (and actually going through with it) Spotify for years due to a plethora of complaints. Organizations like the National Music Publishers Association, representing the “big three” music publishers — Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell— have pushed for government intervention toward better payouts from the streaming giant. However, in 2022, author Roxane Gay and rock icons Neil Young and Joni Mitchell moved to remove their works from Spotify in light of misinformation spread by the platform’s massive Joe Rogan Experience podcast (Young and Mitchell’s music have since returned). Then, this summer, bands Deerhoof and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard pulled their catalogues, citing Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek’s nearly $700 million investment in defense company Helsing, which makes military drones and AI defense software. “We don’t want our music killing people,” Deerhoof said in a statement. “We don’t want our success being tied to AI battle tech.”
Alongside Hotline TNT’s no-more-Spotify announcement, the band shared plans for a 24-hour live stream on Twitch, YouTube, and Instagram, starting on Sept. 5 at noon ET, telethon style. They plan to sell 500 copies of their latest album, Raspberry Moon, and promise special guests, a Q&A with the band (they’re collecting question submissions on their Instagram story), and prizes.
