Kalahari Oyster Cult is removing its music from Spotify following reports that the streaming giant's co-founder CEO Daniel Ek made a significant investment in the German AI military defence company Helsing.
The Amsterdam label, which has released music by the likes of Sansibar, Priori, Flora FM, Kosh and Roza Terenzi, announced the decision on Instagram last week, with the removals happening today, 1st July. "Following the news about Daniel Ek’s major investment in AI tools for military use, we’ve decided to pull our entire catalogue from Spotify, effective Tuesday the 1st of July. Admittedly, this decision is long overdue."
"As a label, and in consultation with the artists we represent, we don’t want our music contributing to or benefiting a platform led by someone backing tools of war, surveillance, and violence", the label wrote. "Keeping our work on Spotify would mean going against everything we stand for... We’re done being part of that."
This is the second time Ek's investment firm Prima Materia has contributed money to Helsing. In 2021, when Ek founded Prima Materia to fund "deep tech" projects, it was part of an investment round totalling €100,000.
Earlier this year, Spotify reportedly donated $150,000 to Donald Trump's January inauguration ceremony and hosted a brunch with Trump-supporting podcasters the day prior.
Read Kalahari Oyster Cult's statement in full.