More Indie Artists Pulling Their Music From Spotify

Photo Credit: Melbourne, home of many indie artists who are pulling their music from Spotify, by Urlaubstracker

Taking a page from King Gizzard’s book, Aussie indie musicians are fleeing Spotify over CEO Daniel Ek’s AI military investments.

Indie artists seem to be flocking away from Spotify in light of CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in European defense technology company Helsing. We’ve reported on bands like Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard bidding adieu to the Stockholm-based streaming giant. Now, even more bands—especially from King Gizzard’s native Melbourne—are saying goodbye to Spotify.

King Gizzard frontman Stu Mackenzie spoke to The LA Times earlier this month about the band’s decision to leave the platform after news of Ek’s investment in AI-based military tech company Helsing. “A bit of a shock, and then feeling that I shouldn’t be shocked,” he said. “We’ve been saying ‘f—k Spotify’ for years.”

After that interview, several more artists, especially those from the Melbourne area, have been following King Gizzard’s example. In Adelaide, Melbourne-born musician David Bridie used his recent Outstanding Achievement Award from the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) acceptance speech to announce that he too was removing his music from Spotify.

“Being an independent artist […] you’re free to speak your mind,” he said. “Spotify used to be a necessary evil. Now it’s just evil. […] We can’t be complicit in death technologies.”

Meanwhile, Melbourne singer-songwriter Leah Senior cited the same grounds for removing her music from the platform just weeks earlier. “Something just snapped,” she said. “Artists are made to feel like we need [Spotify]. […] I’m saying we don’t.”

The decision to remove music from Spotify is a difficult one, particularly given the platform’s saturation among music listeners. But plenty of other streaming platforms rival Spotify, and artists with solid song storage and sharp distribution are equipped to exclude the Swedish streaming giant.

For artists determined to ditch, content organization and management are key to staying connected to fans. “A great song deserves to be heard,” explains Chris Gertz-Rombach, CMO of OmMuse, a company focused on content storage, distribution, and collaboration. “A structured distribution process ensures that music reaches the right audience, on the right platforms, with professionalism and ease.”

Through his venture capital firm Prima Materia, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek has led a $1.08 billion round of funding in defense technology company Helsing.

The company is developing AI systems for battlefield surveillance and drone operations. Ek also serves as chairman of the company, which supplies the militaries of Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, the UK, and more.

The outrage from Aussie musicians over where Spotify’s cash is going has been further stoked by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) naming the streaming giant as the presenting partner of the ARIA Awards for the next three years. This will “translate into real export opportunities,” according to ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd.

But nothing in that arrangement indicates any sort of financial relief to musicians who continue to lament Spotify’s relatively minute royalty payments—even as profits continue to boom for Spotify and major labels. Artists have questioned why the ARIA would support a platform that many feel does so little for its constituents, with many calling it “the last of the ARIA’s credibility.”