Local independent artists are boycotting Spotify after CEO Daniel Ek invested €600 million ($A1 billion) in military AI start-up Helsing.
In a new The Music Network interview, artists say this latest controversy adds to years of frustration over Spotify’s low royalty payouts, podcast priorities, and strict streaming rules.
Melbourne/Naarm folk artist Leah Senior has already begun pulling her catalogue, starting with her 2023 album The Music That I Make.
“As soon as I saw that Daniel Ek is investing in AI military technology, something just snapped and I thought, ‘Enough,'” Senior told The Music Network. “We all know Spotify is bad, has always been bad, but artists are made to feel like we need it, like it’s just a necessary evil of the current music world. Well I’m saying, we don’t need them.”
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Senior follows the lead of US indie rock band Deerhoof, who made their position clear: “We don’t want our music killing people. We don’t want our success being tied to AI battle tech.”
Despite having 113,000 monthly listeners and multiple songs with over 1 million streams, Deerhoof stated leaving Spotify was a “no-brainer” as the platform “only pays a pittance anyway, and we earn a lot more from touring.”
Deerhoof’s label, Joyful Noise Recordings, supported the decision while leaving the choice to other artists on their roster, which includes Dinosaur Jr., Surfer Blood, and Australian act Tropical Fuck Storm.
Ek’s investment follows a previous €100 million injection into Helsing in 2021. Now valued at €12 billion, the Munich-based company plans to expand from AI defence software to producing drones, aircraft and submarines, according to the Financial Times.
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“There’s an enormous realisation that it’s really now AI, mass and autonomy that is driving the new battlefield,” Ek told the FT. Forbes estimates Ek’s net worth at $US10.2 billion—reportedly making him wealthier than Jay Z, Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift combined.
Elsewhere in TMN interview, Dougal Shaw, of Melbourne/Naarm post-punk band Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice and founder of Marthouse Records, says he’s also removing his music from Spotify, starting with the new album Blue/Bubble. Shaw says wider action is needed.
“I’m trying to think of a way to do it that might help mobilise a wider boycott,” Shaw said. “It’s hard to feel like it has any impact as a smaller artist, but if we can get more established artists on board I think it can be powerful. Withholding our work, our labour, that’s just about the only tool we’ve got.”
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Dutch dance music label Kalahari Oyster Cult has already removed most of its catalogue, including releases by Australian acts OK EG, Reflex Blue and Furious Frank. The label stated on social media: “We don’t want our music contributing to or benefiting a platform led by someone backing tools of war, surveillance, and violence. Spotify has built its business by underpaying and undervaluing the very people who give it life. We’re done being part of that.”
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This isn’t the first time Ek’s involvement with Helsing has sparked backlash. His initial €100 million investment in 2021 prompted electronic producer Darren Sangita to call for a boycott, and Brisbane vaporwave producer b l u e s c r e e n left the platform, as reported by Resident Advisor.
Despite the growing criticism, Ek, whose wealth has reportedly doubled since 2021, remains unmoved. “I’m sure people will criticise it and that’s OK,” he told the FT. “Personally, I’m not concerned about it. 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.”
