Last week, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, invested €600 million in AI warfare startup Helsing through the investment fund he co-founded, Prima Materia. The investment, worth nearly $700 million in U.S. dollars, greatly exceeds the fund’s initial investments in Helsing back in 2021 for €100 million, and made Daniel Ek a chairman for the company. Helsing, who makes drones for the air and sea, as well as AI-powered interfaces for drone pilots, is a European defense tech startup evaluated at €12 billion. It’s one of Europe’s most valuable privately-held companies. The company states they make weapons to defend democracy, but don’t specify what countries or policies meet their standards. Many autocracies have “elections.” Many countries with “elections” still violate human rights. Apartheid, bodily autonomy, healthcare, freedom of speech, where does an AI warfare company draw the line? They seem reluctant to say.
The new investments in war machines powered by AI has Spotify users considering leaving the platform behind. Artists, similarly, have renewed requests for users to ditch the platform, choosing one that pays musicians better and doesn’t enrich the investment capabilities of a billionaire interested in warfare. But with Spotify holding a strong position in our culture, will leaving it behind for ideological reasons ever happen?
An AI-Powered War Machine
“Helsing’s corporate slogan is ‘AI to serve democracies.’ This is meant to illustrate the company’s pledge to never sell to autocratic governments such as Russia and North Korea, says Reil. But what counts as a democracy? When I ask whether the founders would sell to countries like Poland or Hungary—countries within the EU where governments have stripped judges of their independence and cracked down on LGBTQ rights—I do not get an answer.”
– Morgan Meaker for Wired
Helsing’s systems give an AI-powered interface to drone operators that Wired author Morgan Meaker described as sounding “like a video game.” AI will make suggestions on possible targets, but those drone operators still need to make the final decision to strike a target. While Helsing says they force some time for a drone pilot to make a decision, to reduce the chance that human operators will simply fire at anything the AI suggests they fire upon, studies have shown that replacing AI with decision making will reduce critical thinking skills. In other words, the more AI makes suggestions for its users, the less those users will think about their decisions. While studies would need to confirm this happens in wartime situations as well, it seems possible that humans could think about difficult decisions like whether to strike—or kill—a target only slightly more than a servo motor would. What kind of training would drone pilots need to learn to better question their AI? As we build weapons for war, are we being sure to build safeguards too? Can any offensive weapon be used “safely?”
Spotify made Daniel Ek a billionaire, and now his investment fund has invested €700 million in a startup that will be used in war. That means these weapons, funded in part by a music streaming service, may kill people, intentionally or otherwise. Meanwhile, musicians on that platform get by on scraps, and smaller musicians don’t receive payouts from Spotify at all. Spotify cut musicians out of the profits from their music only to turn those profits into executive income and eventually large investments in war.
Screenshots via UMAW Instagram
United Musicians and Allied Workers, a musician’s union furthering the worker’s rights of musicians and those in the music industry, called Daniel Ek “a warmonger who pays artists poverty wages,” stating further that, “The only people that stand to benefit from war are the billionaires who profit off of destruction and suffering.” Other musicians started calling to “Disarm Spotify.” The backlash for the platform no longer revolves solely around the small payouts they make to artists. Now those who want to see a world without war also find themselves at odds with the streaming service.
If starving artists can’t convince people to move off Spotify to a service that pays artists more, like Tidal, Deezer, Apple Music, Bandcamp, or others, then perhaps financing war tech is a good enough reason to finally leave Spotify behind?
It’s Easy to Ditch Spotify
Sometimes, it can feel like cancelling a subscription is a major life change. Like throwing away your wardrobe and building a new one. Fortunately, it’s nothing like the end of your Scene phase in 2007. Instead, it’s as easy as downloading an app, making a single settings change, and cancelling your Spotify subscription.
First, decide where you’re going to go. If you’re going to Apple Music and you already have a digital music collection, you’ll want to turn off “Sync Library” in your settings under General. Otherwise, Apple could replace your own music with theirs, which they may also revoke without notifying you. I’ve lost music this way and started moving to physical media as a result. I’ll write more on that later, but it’s been a lot of cassettes.
Next, download an app, Songshift. Songshift is a service you can pay for, but it’s a free app and you can transfer your playlists over for free. Log in to your accounts and transfer your playlists. It’ll do all the matching and playlist creation for your. You can also do this step manually, or export your playlists from some services to import them into others. However, Songshift is the most seamless solution I’ve found.
Then, go to Spotify and cancel your account. It’s that easy. Just cancel it. You can even delete your account if you want some extra permanence.
Worried about podcasts? You can find those just about anywhere. Either directly from websites or services like NPR, or through iTunes podcasts, Pocketcasts, Podbean, and many more. I personally use an app, Overcast, though I’ll admit, I’ve lost interest in podcasts so I may not be able to give the best recommendations. You have many options, and finding your favorite podcasts elsewhere will be easier than you think.
Spotify is a multi-billion dollar company. It made its CEO a billionaire who can fund war machines. Meanwhile musicians have multiple jobs and multiple roommates to fund executives’ lavish lifestyles while small artists get nothing. Why on earth is it so hard to convince people to leave? No streaming company is great, but why stick with one of the worst?
Start rethinking how you bring music into your life. Do you want to listen to what profit-driven algorithm wants you to hear? Or would you rather discover music you love from friends, your favorite bands, or local shows? Don’t let a robot tell you what the background music of your life should be, discover it for yourself. Be the curator for the art in your own life. Take that control back. Use streaming to accomplish discovery and sampling, then support your favorite artists by buying physical copies of their music directly from them on vinyl, CD, or cassette. Buy merch! But if you want to connect with people through art, the first step is putting people first in your consumption of art. Not algorithms and companies that enrich billionaires enough that they can build war machines.
Sources:
- Reem Aouir, Middle East Eye
- Ryan Browne, CNBC
- Becky Buckle, Mixmag
- AJ Dellinger, Gizmodo
- Morgan Meaker, Wired
- Connie Loizos, Techcrunch
- Gemma Ross, Mixmag