Another band is pulling their music from Spotify due to Daniel Ek’s military investments

Indie rock outfit Xiu Xiu have announced they are removing their music from Spotify, citing CEO Daniel Ek’s “investments in AI war drones” as the final straw. The band now joins a small but growing list of artists cutting ties with the streaming giant in protest.

In a statement on Instagram, the group writes: “We are currently working to take all of our music off of garbage hole violent armageddon portal Spotify. It is taking longer than we had hoped due to procedural complications but will be completed soon. Thanks for the support and patience.”

Earlier this year, Ek led a €600 million round of investment in Helsing, a German defence-tech company that develops AI software to enhance military weapons systems and other equipment. His involvement with Helsing has faced heavy criticism from artists and listeners alike, especially given Spotify’s long-standing tension with musicians over royalty payouts.

Expanding on the band’s decision in a new interview with Anthony Fantano, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart says: “We’ve wanted to for a long time. I mean, I’ve never been a fan of streaming. It devalues music generally. It makes music disposable.”

Stewart adds that their prior efforts to leave the platform stalled when “no one [their labels] really wanted to do it,” but Helsing was the line they could no longer cross.

“The reason for us at the time was just, we thought that they treated bands badly. But when the announcement came that Spotify head Daniel Ek was using Spotify funds to directly invest in AI war murder drones… There was just no conceivable way that we could be involved in something like that.”

And though Stewart acknowledges that Xiu Xiu “being off of Spotify is not going to make any real financial impact for them”, he says that “it really has more to do with our conscience”.

“Hopefully for the small number of people interested in Xiu Xiu, possibly it encourages them just to be aware of this issue and not to, in some small way, fund the murder of what will undoubtedly be brown people all over the world so a small number of white billionaires can make some more money.”

Xiu Xiu’s decision follows a similar move by art-rock outfit Deerhoof earlier this month, who wrote, “We don’t want our music killing people,” as they announced plans to pull their catalogue from Spotify.

Learn more about Xiu Xiu via their official website.