Indie-rock stalwarts Deerhoof might be eradicating their music from Spotify. “‘Daniel Ek makes use of $700 million of his Spotify fortune to change into chairman of AI battle tech firm’ was not a headline we loved studying this week,” the band wrote in a press release shared on-line. “We don’t need our music killing individuals. We don’t need our success being tied to AI battle tech.”
Together with being the the co-founder and chief govt of Spotify, Daniel Ek is the founding father of an funding fund known as Prima Materia. It was reported earlier this month that Prima Materia led a brand new spherical of funding in Helsing, a protection firm that sells software program that makes use of synthetic intelligence (AI) to tell army choices. Prima Materia has been investing in Helsing since 2021, and the brand new spherical of funding quantities to 600 million euros ($693.6 million). Helsing at the moment operates in the UK, Germany, and France.
Past the opposition to Ek and Prima Materia’s investments, Deerhoof criticized Spotify’s utility for artists and standing as a music-discovery platform. “Spotify is flushing itself down the bathroom,” the band mentioned. “Ultimately artists will wish to depart this already extensively hated data-mining rip-off masquerading as a ‘music firm.’ It’s creepy for customers and crappy for artists. Music-making lasts eternally however this or that digital get-rich-quick scheme is certain to change into out of date.”
Deerhoof continued: “One of many claims typically made about Spotify is that it theoretically makes one’s music discoverable by anybody who indicators up, irrespective of how distant they might be from the self-proclaimed facilities of hipness. However simply because somebody is much from Western gatekeepers doesn’t imply they lack tradition, or want to listen to our band. Deerhoof is a small mother and pop operation, and know when sufficient is sufficient. We aren’t capitalists, and don’t want to take over the world. Particularly if the worth of ‘discoverability’ is letting oligarchs fill the globe with computerized weaponry, we’re going to go on the supposed advantages.”
Deerhoof closed their assertion by acknowledging that their disappearance from Spotify is not going to be speedy. “We aren’t positive precisely how quickly the takedowns can occur, however will probably be as quickly as potential,” they wrote. “We wish to thank our numerous labels for his or her assist on this tough determination. The grunt work of pulling content material off of Spotify is one thing they’re now tasked with, and they’re sharing the monetary hit. We all know we’re asking them to make a sacrifice, and it means loads to us.”
Deerhoof, who not too long ago launched the brand new album Noble and Godlike in Ruin, be a part of Neil Younger, Joni Mitchell, India.Arie, and Crosby, Stills & Nash as artists who’ve pulled music from Spotify in recent times.
Younger, who has lengthy criticized digital streaming platforms for audio-fidelity causes, pulled his catalog from Spotify in 2022 in opposition to the platform’s then-exclusive take care of podcaster Joe Rogan. On the time, he said that Rogan was spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned his music to Spotify in 2024 after Rogan’s Spotify exclusivity ended and his podcast turned out there on competing platforms from Apple and Amazon.
Joni Mitchell pulled her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Younger, as did Graham Nash. Mitchell returned to Spotify in 2024, whereas Nash and his band Crosby, Stills & Nash’s boycott lasted a handful of months. India.Arie protested Spotify across the identical time as Neil Younger, too, however she returned to the platform in 2023.
