King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Pull Music From Spotify

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have pulled their sizable catalog from Spotify. The Australian band have established a reputation as one of the world’s most diverse and prolific acts, releasing 27 genre-straddling albums in 13 years.

The issue:

• The move is in response to Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Prima Materia venture capital firm investing in European defense technology startup Helsing.

• Helsing sells software that utilizes AI technology to inform military decisions on the battlefield.

• Ek is also Chairman of Helsing.

• Other acts to remove their music out of similar concerns include Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu.

New music:

• Around the same time King Gizzard announced a new collection of demos “out everywhere except Spotify.”

Catalog removals:

• Neil Young removed his catalog from Spotify in 2022 due to its then-exclusive deal with The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which he accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

• His music reappeared on the platform in 2024.

• Other acts to have removed their catalogs, only to later reverse the decision, include Nils Lofgren, Joni Mitchell and India Arie.

What they said:

• In an Instagram post King Gizzard wrote: “A PSA to those unaware: 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.”