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Photo Credit: Melbourne, home of many indie artists who are pulling their music from Spotify, by Urlaubstracker<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Indie artists seem to be flocking away from Spotify<\/a> in light of CEO Daniel Ek\u2019s investments in European defense technology company Helsing<\/a>. We\u2019ve reported on bands like Deerhoof<\/a>, Xiu Xiu<\/a>, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard<\/a> bidding adieu to the Stockholm-based streaming giant. Now, even more bands\u2014especially from King Gizzard\u2019s native Melbourne\u2014are saying goodbye to Spotify.<\/p>\n King Gizzard frontman Stu Mackenzie spoke to The LA Times<\/em> earlier this month<\/a> about the band\u2019s decision to leave the platform after news of Ek\u2019s investment in AI-based military tech company Helsing. \u201cA bit of a shock, and then feeling that I shouldn\u2019t be shocked,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been saying \u2018f\u2014k Spotify\u2019 for years.\u201d<\/p>\n After that interview, several more artists, especially those from the Melbourne area, have been following King Gizzard\u2019s example. In Adelaide, Melbourne-born musician David Bridie used his recent Outstanding Achievement Award from the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) acceptance speech to announce that he too was removing his music from Spotify.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing an independent artist [\u2026] you\u2019re free to speak your mind,\u201d he said. \u201cSpotify used to be a necessary evil. Now it\u2019s just evil. [\u2026] We can\u2019t be complicit in death technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision to remove music from Spotify is a difficult one, particularly given the platform\u2019s saturation among music listeners. But plenty of other streaming platforms rival Spotify, and artists with solid song storage and sharp distribution are equipped to exclude the Swedish streaming giant.<\/p>\n For artists determined to ditch, content organization and management are key to staying connected to fans. \u201cA great song deserves to be heard,\u201d explains Chris Gertz-Rombach, CMO of OmMuse<\/a>, a company focused on content storage, distribution, and collaboration. \u201cA structured distribution process ensures that music reaches the right audience, on the right platforms, with professionalism and ease.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is developing AI systems for battlefield surveillance and drone operations. Ek also serves as chairman of the company, which supplies the militaries of Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, the UK, and more.<\/p>\n The outrage from Aussie musicians over where Spotify\u2019s cash is going has been further stoked by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) naming the streaming giant as the presenting partner of the ARIA Awards for the next three years. This will \u201ctranslate into real export opportunities,\u201d according to ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd.<\/p>\n But nothing in that arrangement indicates any sort of financial relief to musicians who continue to lament Spotify\u2019s relatively minute royalty payments<\/a>\u2014even as profits continue to boom for Spotify and major labels. Artists have questioned why the ARIA would support a platform that many feel does so little for its constituents, with many calling it \u201cthe last of the ARIA\u2019s credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\nMeanwhile, Melbourne singer-songwriter Leah Senior cited the same grounds for removing her music from the platform just weeks earlier. \u201cSomething just snapped,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cArtists are made to feel like we need [Spotify]. [\u2026] I\u2019m saying we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/h4>\n
Through his venture capital firm Prima Materia, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek has led a $1.08 billion round of funding in defense technology company Helsing.<\/h4>\n