Bay Area rock band cuts ties with ‘garbage hole' Spotify over CEO's AI weapons deal
"We are currently working to take all of our music off of garbage hole violent armageddon portal Spotify," the San Jose trio revealed in a statement shared to Instagram on Thursday, July 24.
Xiu Xiu noted that the process is taking longer than expected due to procedural 'complications.'
'Spotify uses music money to invest in AI war drones,' the caption adds, referring to the platform's co-founder and chief executive, Daniel Ek, who reportedly invested nearly $700 million in European defense technology company Helsing, which is developing AI software for military use.
Ek serves as chairman of Helsing and made the investment through his firm Prima Materia, which has been funding the company since 2021.
Xiu Xiu told Consequence that their three main labels — Polyvinyl, Kill Rock Stars and Graveface — are in 'full support' of the decision.
The group, composed of Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo and David Kendrick, came to the decision a month after San Francisco indie rock band Deerhoof cut ties with Spotify over similar concerns.
'We don't want our music killing people. We don't want our success being tied to AI battle tech,' the Deerhoof wrote in a statement posted to social media Monday, June 30.
Its label, Joyful Noise Recordings, backed the choice.
'As a label, we too are sickened by the fact that our releases have inadvertently contributed to the global war machine,' Joyful Noise Records wrote in a separate statement. '(W)e serve the artist. It is ultimately their decision to present their material on whichever platforms they choose.'
Several others have also joined the exodus, including the Dutch music label Kalahari Oyster Cult and Australian folk singer Leah Senior.
'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.'
Meanwhile, other artists have pulled their music from Spotify due to other grievances with the streaming platform over the years. In 2022, Graham Nash, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell did so in protest of the platform's exclusive deal with podcaster Joe Rogan. Most have since returned.
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