'Technofascist military fantasy': Spotify faces boycott calls over CEO’s investment in AI military startup

I thought we were already boycotting this shit

Funny enough, for local downloads of video game OSTs (which I like way too much), I've been recently turning to Steam of all things. Often cheaper than Bandcamp and DRM-free!

I stopped using Spotify long ago because of their shitty business practices. Producing a product they killed support for within just a couple years without reimbursing customers and producing huge amounts of e-waste. Jacking their subscription prices twice in one year. Apparently, they also donated to Trump despite not being an American company?? That's to say nothing of their shitty recommendation algorithm, which just plays your most played tracks over and over. Good riddance.

For those interested, I use Tidal now. I'm satisfied with, their recommendation algo is fine and the higher quality streaming is really nice but nothing I've used has ever been as good as Google Play Music, I found so much good music though that service and could upload whatever I was missing. Once Tidal inevitably pisses me off, I'm going to move on to self hosting.

What's up with the cool startup names recently? First Palantir the fortune teller ball, now Helsing the vampire hunter? Fuck yeah, who doesn't invest in these? /s

I boycotted them a long time ago when I found out they donated to Trump's campaign, despite being a Swedish company.

damn people are just learning that spotify is a shitty pro fascist/pro white supremacist company?

Who's calling for that boycott? Putin?

Respect for the true pacifists out there, but investing in EU-based defense industry is hardly questionable by ordinary standards.

“Finally cancelling my Spotify subscription – why am I paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago, while their CEO spends all my money on technofascist military fantasies?” said one user on X.

You shouldn't be "paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago" regardless of anything an executive has done. Be less lazy and cancel subscriptions to shitty services.

Also, if a CEO doing a bad thing is a dealbreaker for them, why the fuck are they on twitter?.

Spotify CEO also donated millions to trump campaign.

Jokes on them, I moved to CD and love it

I can't speak for how viable it is for success or whether it's just a grift (as I haven't had the time to really research into it) but feels like as good a time as any to mention that, out in Australia, The Pack Music Cooperative is fundraising for a cooperative music streaming service: https://www.thepackaustralia.com.au/

They haven't raised a lot towards their goal, yet, and could probably use an the help they can get. As a cooperative, they'll side step a lot of the probably problems a corporation like Spotify or Tidal will have and they already are dedicated to prioritizing artists and their rights.

Been thinking of booting them for a whilst. Just cancelled. Better late than never.

Dude, you should have stopped using Spotify when they let Joe Rogan on their platform… or when they started hosting fake music.

Always worth keeping in mind that these fuckers are selling snake oil to one another under the guise of national security.

This technology is dangerous not because it works as advertised but because it creates a vacuum of responsibility for when the very manual killing starts

Israel's Lavender AI is a great example of this in action. It doesn't work in any meaningful way. All it does is label casualties in a bombing run as "terrorists" after the fact.

“Said one user on X.”

What are the Spotify alternatives people recommend?

I'm learning more and more everyday, that essentially all companies worldwide are evil. Because profit and money are what is most important to humans, I 100% want all of humanity to self-terminate and give this planet back to the few species that we didn't already wipe out! We are a nightmare species. I fear humans more than anything else in life. We are the enemy of this planet.

Out of every company I would have never expected Spotify to be one of the ones to want that

There are lots of reasons to boycott Spotify and call out Ek for being a fascism enabler but this is not one. Helsing is a promising project that could give Europe the edge in the face of Russian imperialist aggression. If anything, we need more companies shaking up the crusty MIC. They also provide important military aid to Ukraine.

Must be so nice to be so privileged as to be spoiled for choice on which fascist to support.

Spotify is the only streaming service available worldwide other than YouTube Music and Apple.

So for a lot of people it is either piracy or supporting a US tech megacorporation. Tidal, Qobuz, deezer. Cool, nice that they exist options. But most people in the planet would have to also pay a VPN and hope to not get their account banned if they want to use some of those alternatives.

It's funny really, to see how the “fascist option” for some is actually the most ethical for others.

There's always piracy of course, I suppose that is the only morally correct option always.

Well tough guy, how else is Raytheon supposed to perfect its AIM-9X Romper Room baby-seeking missile's accuracy?

The best time to start boycotting was when they started platforming a conspiracy theorising, testicle headed manosphere peddler. The next best time is not I suppose.

It is possible to get off Spotify.

What you can't buy legitimately via other means you can use a Youtube-To-MP3 converter to rip and add the file to your music library.

it will always be and has always been about money

Based. We need to fund european military technology in preparation of a Russian attack on sacred Western European soil.

I’m doing my part!

Reading this while listening to vinyl...best enjoyable music experience.

To hell with the enshitification of music streaming.