Photo Credit: Ben Dutton
A prominent collective of Seattle musicians—many from the jazz community—have issued a public open letter announcing their decision to withdraw their music from Spotify.
Carolyn Brotherton, a musician and former union organizer spearheads the coalition of artists called Seattle Artists Against Spotify. Over 30 local performers, DJs, and record label owners have signed the letter at the time of writing, voicing their concerns for what they dub is Spotify’s “anti-human, anti-art, and “anti-listener” direction.
The open letter criticizes Spotify’s business practices, especially around the use of AI generated music and Daniel Ek’s investments in AI military drone technology. These affiliated artists see these developments as stripping art of its intrinsic value.
“I already thought that Spotify was exceptionally predatory,” shares Leanna Keith, a Seattle-based flautist. “Its entire model relies on desperation from the artists in order to have content. Without the musicians, Spotify doesn’t actually have a product. And yet, it continues to be one of the most profitable companies without giving the actual people making their product their fair share.”
The artists are also upset about Spotify’s lack of response to the absolute flood of AI content that is entering the platform. They cite a recent issue in which AI-generated songs appeared on country music artist Blaze Foley’s Spotify Artist page. Foley died in 1989 and his estate has not released any new music following the death. Carolyn Brotherton described this misattribution as “an egregious violation of [Foley’s] artistic legacy.”
The track was later removed under Spotify’s ‘Deceptive Content’ policy, but many feel the company should be doing more to prevent scammers from sullying the legacy of artists with AI slop. The open letter also highlights how ‘ghost artists’ like The Velvet Sundown have successfully gamed the platform to feature in playlists. They highlight that Spotify seems to promote passive listening especially in the jazz genre, with devalues the cultural and artistic experience for both artist and listener.
Brotherton is urging more artists to join their boycott, citing Seattle’s history of cultural activism as fertile ground for the movement. “Seattle has led the fight against corporate interests in our own powerful way that inspires others to join in. Now is a time for Seattle artists to lead together,” the letter states. You can read the full letter with the undersigned artists below.
Full Seattle Artists Against Spotify Open Letter
As individual artists, we have the power to create powerful music, but our impacts on the music industry will remain small if we act alone. It is together that we can have an enormous impact.
In this moment, the joy, catharsis, and freedom that arises from experiencing and making art is of critical importance. Music has the power to bring people together and provide hope, community and peace. As the United States funds and commits genocide, and fascism is at our doorstep, the music industry is also experiencing an autocratic, corporate take-over that is hurting art-making in serious long-term ways.
While the economics of streaming are difficult on any platform, Spotify’s harmful actions have escalated beyond just meager payouts to artists. Spotify’s business model is built on the accelerated devaluation of music for artists and listeners alike. The efforts of the company to (1) demonetize the streams of music from artists with fewer than 1000 monthly listeners (2) direct listeners to playlists loaded with “fake” artists created by companies with contracts with Spotify (3) platform and promote AI-generated music and much more are well documented.
In a recent example of its abuses, Spotify posted an AI track falsely attributed to Blaze Foley–an artist who died years ago–and, as portrayed in Mike Judge’s Tales from the Tour Bus, opposed selling out to the degree that he stayed on the margins of success his whole life. While the track was taken down due to the actions of Foley’s estate, Spotify took no responsibility for this egregious violation of Foley’s artistic legacy, and instead, pointed fingers at the music distributor.
Furthermore, the leadership of Spotify has made it clear that they do not value art or care for people or the planet. As King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard recently pointed out, “A PSA for those unaware: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in AI military drone technology.” In response, the band has removed their music from the platform, as have trailblazing artists like Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu.
Many artists get most of their streams from Spotify, and many listeners use the platform to listen to music. However, the company has shown us time and again that they are bent on undermining art to an extreme degree and using our money to invest in anti-human practices both within their own company and externally. We don’t have to put up with this, though. There is a more positive path forward for artists, one in which we value each other, our art, and our listeners.
Why Seattle?
Seattle is known as a place where new ideas gain steam. From the music of Nirvana and Shabazz Palaces, to movements like the World Trade Organization protests, Seattle has led the fight against corporate interests in our own powerful way that inspires others to join in. Now is a time for Seattle artists to lead together.
We – the undersigned – are banding together to say NO to Spotify’s practices by pledging to remove our music from the platform. Together we can say, music is forever and will last beyond this particularly toxic corporate platform. Let’s listen to and share our music elsewhere!
Afrocop
Ben Urv-Wong
Casey Rosebridge
Christopher Icasiano
DJ Roxy Music
Elias Hampton
Fantasy A
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Gretta Seabird
IQU
Jesse Gallaway
Jesse Moneyhun
Josh Hou
Jovino Santos Neto
Kaley Lane Eaton
Kevin Sur
Lada Laika
Leanna Keith
Levi Fuller
Melia/YAYA
Mt Fog
Nathan Womack
Noel Brass Jr.
Oliver Elf Army
Dr. Professor Wizard (recording engineer)
Select Level
Sockpuppet
Summer Sleeves
Stargazr
Tim Van Buren
Wax Thématique Records
