After years spent streaming its music on the massive Spotify, Deerhoof states that the band is in the process of removing its entire music catalog from that specific streaming service. Having just released its acclaimed 20th album, Noble and Godlike in Ruin (Joyful Noise Recordings), as the band continues to tour, the decision came easily after the group read a news report about Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s $700 million investment in AI military defense company Helsing.

The Germany-based Helsing develops AI tools for military use in its drone manufacturing. Daniel Ek’s investment firm, Prima Materia, has been used to lead the way in funding the project. Back in 2021, Ek invested $117 million in Helsing, but has now become much more resolute in support of the company.

Deerhoof did make its public statement:

“We’re taking Deerhoof off Spotify. Daniel Ek uses $700 million of his Spotify fortune to become chairman of AI battle tech company” was not a headline we enjoyed reading this week. We don’t want our music killing people. We don’t want our success being tied to AI battle tech. We are privileged that it was a pretty easy decision for us. Spotify only pays a pittance anyway, and we earn a lot more from touring. But we also understand that other artists and labels do rely on Spotify for a bigger chunk of their income, and don’t judge those who can’t make the same move in the short term.

AI battle tech is clearly emerging as the hot new big-ticket item for the super-rich. It’s increasingly clear that the military and police exist primarily as the security detail for the billionaire class. The more of the killing you can get computers to do, the better your bottom line. Computerized targeting, computerized extermination, computerized destabilization for profit, successfully tested on the people of Gaza, also finally solves the perennial inconvenience to war-makers–It takes human compassion and morality out of the equation.

Spotify is flushing itself down the toilet. Eventually, artists will want to leave this already widely hated data-mining scam masquerading as a “music company.” It’s creepy for users and crappy for artists. Music-making lasts forever but this or that digital get-rich-quick scheme is sure to become obsolete.

One of the claims often made about Spotify is that it theoretically makes one’s music discoverable by anyone who signs up, no matter how remote they may be from the self-proclaimed centers of hipness. But just because someone is far from Western gatekeepers does not mean they lack culture, or need to hear our band. Deerhoof is a small mom and pop operation, and know when enough is enough. We aren’t capitalists, and don’t wish to take over the world. Especially if the price of “discoverability” is letting oligarchs fill the globe with computerized weaponry, we’re going to pass on the supposed benefits.

The big picture is this: Our politico-economic system increasingly presents humanity with a hideous fait accompli: Buy from me, vote for me, consume my media, use my service. Yes, it means mass deportation, mass detainment, and mass extermination of those deemed unprofitable by a handful of rich white people living in enclaves protected by AI weaponry. But if you don’t, you cannot have a job. We think this dilemma is coming to a head soon, and we predict that most people aren’t going to take the billionaires’ side.

We aren’t sure exactly how soon the takedowns can happen, but it will be as soon as possible. We want to thank our various labels for their support on this tricky decision. The grunt work of pulling content off of Spotify is something they’re now tasked with, and they are sharing the financial hit. We know we are asking them to make a sacrifice, and it means a lot to us.”