The worlds of music and military technology, once distant, have violently collided. At the epicenter of this collision is Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, whose personal investments in an AI defense firm have triggered an artist exodus, shaken the streaming giant, and forced millions of listeners to confront an unsettling question: What is my subscription fee funding? This is the story of how the capital generated by a global cultural platform became entangled with the development of autonomous weapons, and how a handful of artists turned a long-simmering labor dispute into a potent moral crusade.
The controversy ignited when it was revealed that Ek, through his investment firm Prima Materia, had not only poured hundreds of millions into AI defense company Helsing but had also taken the role of its chairman. In response, a growing number of musicians, led by the indie rock band Deerhoof, began pulling their music from Spotify, declaring they refuse to let their art be tied to “AI battle tech”. Their protest, however, is not just about ethics; it’s the explosive culmination of years of frustration over what many see as an exploitative economic relationship with the world’s largest streaming service. 1
The Last Straw: An Exodus Fueled by Pennies and Principles
For years, artists have struggled to rally public support against Spotify’s notoriously low royalty rates. The complexities of pro-rata payments and opaque financial structures often failed to capture widespread attention. Daniel Ek’s deep dive into the defense industry changed that overnight. The concept of “computerized extermination” is far more visceral and easier to grasp than fractional cents per stream.
The revolt was spearheaded by indie veterans Deerhoof, who announced the removal of their entire catalog with a blistering statement: “We don’t want our music killing people. We don’t want our success being tied to AI battle tech“. They crucially linked this moral stand to their economic reality, calling the decision “easy” because “Spotify only pays a pittance anyway“. 2
This sentiment echoed across the independent music scene:
- Folk singer Leah Senior pulled her latest album, stating, “As soon as I saw that Daniel Ek is investing in AI military technology, something just snapped and I thought, ‘Enough'”. 3
- Melbourne post-punk band Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice announced they would withhold their new album from the platform, with frontman Dougal Shaw stating, “Withholding our work, our labour, that’s just about the only tool we’ve got”. 4
- The Dutch electronic label Kalahari Oyster Cult wiped most of its catalog, refusing to let its music “benefit a platform led by someone backing tools of war, surveillance and violence” while also noting Spotify “has built its business by underpaying and undervaluing the very people who give it life”.
- The protest builds on earlier dissent from 2021 when Ek first invested in Helsing. This initial wave included electronic producers and DJs such as Darren Sangita, b l u e s c r e e n, Michail Stangl (Opium Hum), and DJ Justin Space.
- The protest builds on earlier dissent from 2021 when Ek first invested in Helsing, which prompted electronic producer Darren Sangita and vaporwave artist b l u e s c r e e n to pull their music. 5
- The United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) union branded Ek “a warmonger who pays artists poverty wages,” perfectly encapsulating the dual nature of the protest.
The Helsing investment provided artists with a powerful moral lever. The narrative was no longer just about unfair compensation; it was about the profits from their art being funneled into the development of autonomous weapons. The ethical outrage became a proxy for the long-standing economic fight, transforming an industry dispute into a clear-cut public crusade.
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The CEO’s Vision and the “Ethical War” Machine
Unfazed by the backlash, Daniel Ek has framed his investment as a matter of geopolitical necessity. Through his €1 billion “Moonshot” fund, Prima Materia, he aims to bolster Europe’s “technological sovereignty” amid growing global instability. He has stated he is “100 per cent convinced that this is the right thing for Europe” and is personally “not concerned” about the criticism.
The company at the heart of the controversy, Helsing, has rapidly grown into a defense unicorn valued at €12 billion. Founded in 2021 with the mission to provide “Artificial intelligence to protect our democracies,” Helsing develops sophisticated AI to process battlefield data and enhance the capabilities of military hardware. Its technology includes:
- The Altra Platform: A battlefield “operating system” that fuses sensor data to accelerate target identification.
- Autonomous Hardware: Kamikaze drones, AI-piloted fighter jet systems, and underwater surveillance drones capable of operating for months at a time.
Helsing markets itself as an ethical company, working only with “liberal democratic societies” to ensure they maintain a technological edge over autocratic regimes. This branding, however, fails to persuade critics. For them, the issue isn’t who the AI-powered weapons are used by, but that they exist at all. The artists’ protest rejects the very premise of a more efficient, “ethical” kill-chain, viewing any move toward automated warfare as an intrinsic moral failure. 6
The Listener’s Dilemma and Spotify’s Dual AI Problem
The artist boycott has forced the issue onto consumers, many of whom have responded by canceling their subscriptions under the #CancelSpotify hashtag and migrating to platforms seen as more artist-friendly, like Bandcamp and Tidal.
Compounding this crisis is Spotify’s deafening silence and a second, parallel AI controversy. The platform has seen a proliferation of suspected AI-generated music from “fake artists” like “Aventhis” and “The Velvet Sundown,” which have amassed millions of streams, sometimes appearing on Spotify’s own curated playlists. This has fueled suspicion that the company is promoting non-human creators to reduce royalty payouts. 7
With no official statement on the Helsing investment, Spotify has allowed these two distinct AI issues to become dangerously conflated in the public mind. To the average user, the company’s perceived embrace of generative AI on its platform makes the CEO’s investment in military AI seem like part of a single, coherent agenda—one that devalues both human creativity and human life in favor of cold, automated systems. This has eroded trust to a critical degree, transforming Spotify from a simple music utility into an entity with a seemingly hostile ideology. 8
The Future Sound of Protest
The Spotify boycott is a watershed moment, revealing that the era of perceived platform neutrality is over. A CEO’s personal investments are no longer separate from the brand; they are the brand. Daniel Ek has leveraged a fortune built on global culture to fund a project of regional military power, and the artists who created that culture are refusing to be silent partners.
This conflict leaves the music world at a crossroads. Will this grassroots movement, led by independent artists, be enough to force change, or will the platform’s dominance render it a symbolic gesture? The outcome will set a precedent for creator power in the digital age. For now, the artists have passed the decision to their audience, asking every listener to consider what kind of world their playlists are helping to build. The answer will define the future sound of conflict between creators and the platforms they inhabit.
- https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-ceo-daniel-ek-leads-690m-funding-round-for-ai-drone-manufacturer-helsing/ ↩︎
- https://www.thefader.com/2025/06/30/deerhoof-remove-music-spotify ↩︎
- https://www.tunefountain.com/spotify-ai-boycott/ ↩︎
- https://musconv.com/why-musicians-are-departing-from-spotify-in-2023/ ↩︎
- https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/artists-exit-spotify-over-ceo-war-tech-funding/ ↩︎
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-dont-want-our-music-killing-people-indie-rock-band-quit-spotify-over-ai-battle/ ↩︎
- https://www.ghacks.net/2025/07/02/an-ai-generated-band-on-spotify-has-over-600000-fans/ ↩︎
- https://www.attackmagazine.com/features/long-read/i-removed-my-music-from-spotify-why-artists-are-stepping-away-part-3/ ↩︎
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