King Gizzard pulls music from Spotify over CEO’s AI drone investments

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard has pulled their entire catalog from Spotify, citing CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in AI military drone technology through his defense company ties. The Australian rock band’s departure marks the latest in a growing wave of artist boycotts targeting Spotify’s leadership over ethical concerns, potentially signaling broader industry tensions around streaming platform investments.

What you should know: The prolific rock band removed all 27 studio albums, plus live recordings and compilations, from the world’s largest music streaming service.

• Their Instagram statement read: “Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in AI 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.”
• The band specifically referenced Ek’s connection to Helsing, a European defense company, for which his investment fund Prima Materia recently raised more than $600 million.

The bigger movement: King Gizzard joins a growing list of artists abandoning Spotify over ideological objections to the platform’s leadership and investments.

• Experimental rock band Xiu Xiu announced their departure Thursday, stating: “Spotify uses music money to invest in AI war drones… the actions of Spotify to use the profits they made from essentially stealing music in order to murder people to make even more money is almost beyond comprehension.”
• Rock act Deerhoof also recently removed their music, similarly citing Prima Materia’s defense investments.

Historical context: This isn’t the first time artists have used Spotify boycotts as a form of protest against the platform’s business decisions.

• In 2022, Neil Young sparked a media firestorm by pulling his catalog over what he called Spotify’s role as “the home of life threatening Covid misinformation,” specifically targeting the platform’s partnership with controversial podcast host Joe Rogan.
• These departures highlight ongoing tensions between artists and streaming platforms over both financial compensation and ethical business practices.

What they’re saying: The bands are framing their departures as direct challenges to tech industry leadership.

• King Gizzard’s statement asked: “Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?”
• In promoting their new demo collection, the band wrote it’s “out everywhere except Spotify (fuck Spotify). You can bootleg it if you wanna.”