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.”
