“All that money that’s being taken from artists and musicians is being funneled to this,” he says, referring to Helsing. But for Sameer Gupta, a Brooklyn, N.Y., percussionist who combines jazz and Indian tabla music, Ek’s Helsing investment was the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” leading him to pull his music from Spotify to focus on Bandcamp, where he posts 15 albums.

“It’s such a small percentage,” McCartney said last year.Īs with YouTube and Apple’s iTunes Store in previous eras, Spotify has become a distributor that artists can’t afford to bypass, given its 381 million worldwide users, including 172 million paid subscribers. Although all three major labels have a stake in the company, and audio streaming grew 12.6% in 2021, according to MRC Data, artists from Paul McCartney to David Crosby have criticized the platform for its low royalty payments. The investment in Helsing, whose executives told the Financial Times they specialize in using infrared, sonar and radio frequencies from military-vehicle sensors to help soldiers detect enemy drones and hostile troops, adds to Spotify’s history of irritating artists on its platform. Skee Mask, a German techno producer and DJ, discouraged his 16,900 Twitter followers earlier this month from giving their “last penny to such a wealthy business that obviously prefers the development of warfare instead of actual progression in the music business.” The early-November investment from Ek’s year-and-a-half-old company, Prima Materia, sparked a “boycott Spotify” social-media movement that has gradually advanced beyond the Z-list. Ek could have possibly thought about investing in to make the world a more beautiful and perhaps a safer place to live?” Are there not any other alternatives that Mr. “The circumstantial evidence points to a massive investment in military/AI tech,” says Sangita, who runs indie label Sangita Sounds.

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