Photo Credit: Young Widows (Instagram)
Young Widows become the latest indie artists to remove their music from Spotify, joining the likes of King Gizzard, Xiu Xiu, and Deerhoof.
Indie band Young Widows has removed their music from Spotify, joining an expanding list of artists protesting the streaming service over CEO Daniel Ek’s investments into AI-powered military technology. The band joins the likes of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, and Hotline TNT.
“We’ve decided to remove our discography from Spotify,” wrote Young Widows on Instagram. “The disgusting news of their CEO Daniel Ek investing profits in Helsing to create AI warfare is a breaking point. We do not support genocide. We do not support war of any kind.”
“We are more than aware that every streaming platform has its flaws, and until people value artists enough to realize streaming has an overall negative impact on music, we will continue to use the other platforms currently available,” they add. “We do not apologize for the inconvenience.”
The band also added their decision stems from “Spotify’s use of AI to ‘create’ music/bands, even making new albums from deceased artists.” Notably, Spotify has long denied having a hand in this practice, which has become more prevalent since the advent of AI.
“We are also more than aware that AI is not going anywhere anytime soon, but it’s a tool that should be used to help humanity, not take joy from us,” said Young Widows, who also cited streaming platforms subjecting artists to a “numbers game” as a detriment to their craft. “As a band, we will continue to do what we do until we’re physically unable. So we implore you, if you truly value an artist, buy their records, go to their shows, support them directly.”
The Spotify exodus has only grown in recent months, even extending beyond artists to users who would prefer to get their music elsewhere. The timing has been a boon to other streaming platforms; Apple Music made it easier than ever by introducing a feature to allow users to transfer their Spotify playlists to Apple Music.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.digitalmusicnews.com ’
