It's always been easy to hate Spotify. Björk once said it was probably the worst thing to happen to musicians. But since it was reported that Helsing, the other evil company that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is chairman of -- which develops AI software designed to enhance military weapons and equipment -- raised nearly $700 million with an investment led by the venture capital firm also founded by Ek and Shakil Khan, musicians are reaching their final straw. Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu have already decided to take their music off the major music streaming platform. Australia's King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are the latest to stand up against Spotify.
Today, the prolific rock group released a collection of Demos Vol. 7 + Vol. 8. If you go to their Spotify page, you won't find the release there. In fact, you won't find 99% of their music there; it has been removed. "New demos collection out everywhere except Spotify (fuck Spotify)," they posted on their Instagram. "You can bootleg it if you wanna."
The only remaining King Gizzard release on Spotify is 2022's Satanic Slumber Party EP, a collaboration with Tropical Fuck Storm. A rep for Joyful Noise, the label that released Satanic Slumber Party, tells Pitchfork they'll remove the EP if the artists ask them to: "We serve the artist, and it’s their right to decide what platforms to sell their music on."
In a story on their Instagram, King Gizzard wrote this over an image of AI band the Velvet Sundown:
Hello friends
A PSA to those unaware: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in Al 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
Fuck Spotify, indeed.
Listen to the demos below.
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