On July 25, kinggizzard & the Lizard Wizard announced that they were pulling their music from Spotify. They were the latest to abandon the platform in the wake of reports that Spotify CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek secured millions for defense company Helsing through his investment fund, Prima Materia.⁠ ⁠ Helsing, a German tech startup, was initially founded in 2021 as an AI defense software company and has since expanded into military strike drone manufacturing, per Bloomberg.⁠ ⁠ The news has led to backlash against Spotify, which has already been the subject of numerous controversies in the past year, including its platforming of AI music and reported “ghost artist” schemes that decrease the money paid to real artists.⁠ ⁠ At the link in bio, read our full roundup of bands including deerhoof and xiuxiuforlife who have pulled their music from the platform.⁠ ⁠ 📸 Maclay Heriot⁠ ⁠ #Spotify #Deerhoof #XiuXiu