Xiu Xiu have decided to take their songs off Spotify, but it’s going slower than they wanted.
Jamie Stewart shared through a rep that the band has been working on this for about a month, and almost everything should disappear from Spotify by next week if things go right. The band also mentioned that Polyvinyl, Kill Rock Stars, and Graveface have all helped out a lot while they try to make this happen.
The reason for this big move? Xiu Xiu said, “Spotify uses music money to invest in AI war drones.” They’re talking about how Daniel Ek, who started Spotify, also started a company called Prima Materia. That company just put a huge amount of money (about 600 million euros!) into Helsing, which is a tech company that uses AI for military stuff in places like France, Germany, and the UK.
Fans sometimes wish streaming was just about music and not all this other stuff.
When someone asked if Xiu Xiu will take their music down from other streaming places, Stewart said they’re focused on Spotify and want people to cancel their accounts because of the AI war drones thing. Stewart explained, “Although the financial practices of all streaming services is acutely anti-musician, the actions of Spotify to use the profits they made from essentially stealing music in order to murder people to make even more money is almost beyond comprehension.” That’s a really strong statement.
Last month, Deerhoof also said they’ll leave Spotify, and they’re upset about the same investment stuff.
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Sometimes, people just want to listen to music without thinking about robots and war.
