r/technology • u/tekz • 18h ago

Business Why are so many musicians removing their music from Spotify?

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-culture/musicians-removing-music-spotify-royalties-ai-daniel-ek-10208768/
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u/LionoftheNorth 17h ago edited 25m ago

Anyone who brings up the CEO of Spotify investing in a German defence company as a reason to boycott Spotify should be forced to visit Ukraine and see what Russia is doing.

"B-but he's investing in murder drones...!!!"

Guess what? So is Putin and his cronies. Between Putin looking to invade the Baltics next and Trump being cagey with his commitment to NATO, Europe is currently playing catch-up with its ability to defend itself.

But hey, at least these people can sit tight in their cocoons of moral superiority, running Putin's errands while Europe prepares for war.

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u/maverick_labs_ca 16h ago

This is partly the reason why I haven't spent a single penny on anything related to music in the past 3 years. Roger Waters' reaction was the final straw. And that was someone whose music shaped my early teenage years.

A year ago I met this geeky kid who was very much into FPV racing until he saw what was happening in Ukraine. Now he wants to put "warheads on foreheads" as he says, and he's doing it with his own drone company.

Why? You either build better weapons than your enemy, or you get replaced. Need proof? Look at what happened to the natives of the American continent, from Alaska to Patagonia. Most of you reading and responding to this post are descendants of those who replaced them via genocide.

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u/TF-Fanfic-Resident 14h ago

It's 2025. Either you're working with the Decepticons or your geopolitical and business opponent is, and good luck avoiding it unless you work in some ultra-old-school business like dry cleaning.

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u/sdewitt108 17h ago

Right, nothing like foreign affairs being influenced by rich CEO’s. WTF could possibly go wrong?

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u/LionoftheNorth 16h ago

What are you talking about?

Private companies developing arms technology is the norm for just about the entire world, sans countries where private companies are illegal. 

In this case, a Swedish billionaire has invested in a German defence company currently developing drones for the Ukrainian armed forces, presumably because he 1) has some sort of sympathy for the plight of Ukraine, 2) is concerned about the fact that a belligerent Russia is just on the other side of the Baltic Sea from Sweden.

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u/sdewitt108 16h ago

Sure, the norm is music streaming service CEO throwing money that SHOULD go to the artists that lined his pockets at unproven AI technology and decides “I am a defense contractor now”. Go fuck right off.

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u/LionoftheNorth 16h ago

You are confusing two issues.

One is that Spotify does not give artists a fair deal, and ditching them for that is perfectly justifiable.

The other is that Spotify CEO is using his wealth to invest in a defence company that develops weapons to protect Europe from Russian invaders. If this is where you draw the line, you are working for Putin whether you know it or not.