Mastodawn

OmniJan Jul 7, 2025

Are you still on #Spotify?

Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek has raised €600M for his new startup, which is developing AI TECH FOR WAR. Ek still owns 9% of Spotify, but has 37% voting control. His net worth went from $2.5B to $10B in the last two years alone, on the back of paying musicians a pittance in royalties.

And don’t forget:

• Spotify spent $250M of your subscription dollars to invite Joe Rogan to spew his disinformation on their platform.
• They’re still trying to embrace and extinguish Podcasts.
• They’re developing in-house, AI-generated “music” so users will play them (royalty-free) instead of music created by humans (who demand royalty).

And now, he’s using his wealth, created by your subscriptions, to fund tech that will use AI to literally murder humans in war.

Stop funding him. Quit Spotify now.

#QuitSpotify #music #ai #militaryTech #techbro

“Spotify’s CEO invests $1 billion into an AI military start-up — and musicians are fuming”

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/spotifys-ceo-invests-1-billion-into-an-ai-military-startup-and-musicians-are-fuming/news-story/78805666e2374281801622066dc87319

Miha Markič Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja That's pretty much sums it up why I left a while ago (AI and this war thing wasn't even a thing then). Currently on #tidal which supposedly pays al music owners better and has none of that crap 🤷‍♂️

Mim54 Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja perhaps you could suggest alternatives that aren’t USA based? I agree with your statement tho

Mike (no not that one)Jul 5, 2025

@mim54 @drahardja Tidal is nominally Norwegian - American. But it's parent company (Block) is American. However it is overall a not bad alternative.

LaraK Jul 5, 2025

@mim54 @drahardja maybe Deezer? They are the only music streaming company that signed the "no AI" statement and even developed tools to scan for and tag AI slop music.

Kuunvirta Jul 5, 2025

@mim54 @drahardja Qobuz is French and is suposed to have a really great audio quality. I have currently Tidal, have had it years because they pay musicians better than Spotify but I might change to Qobuz

David Peach Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja I don't but unfortunately relying on YouTube music.

Am going to be ripping my CDs and using something like navidrome I think.

Can you recommend good places to get new music?

I know of bandcamp and not sure of SoundCloud. (I have a sneaky suspicion that SoundCloud may be shady)

Help appreciated. 💚

Steven Woolgar Jul 5, 2025

@david @drahardja qobuz.com (specifically their download store)

Mia Holte Jul 5, 2025

@david @drahardja Qobuz! Music curated by people. Fantastic content. You will thank me :)

@david @drahardja Depending on where you live, Qobuz has both a streaming service and a digital music store.

Health Is Wealth Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja The sad thing is, many people couldn't care less, as long as they have their Spotify!

GeraintLlanfrancheta Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja MAGA shit ... understood. Not paying Creators: shit. But its an EUropean company, NATO member so hell yeah this ia quite patriotic if its an EU startup. We have 1938 ffs. #dismantlerussia

Cameron Bosch Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja I do not use Spotify that much anymore (and I certainly do not pay for their premium tier anymore), but when I want to download music, sometimes it becomes a pain if its not on Amazon, Beatport, or JunoDownload.

potion_genderqueer

@drahardja I'm just gonna chime in here with the fact that there are several companies out there whose product will move your playlists from Spotify to ... most of the other services - Tidal, qobuz, Napster (yes, that's still here), last.fm, and several other less-good-for-artists platforms (the ones run by FAANG, I'm looking at YOU) ... this is the one I used some years back: https://www.tunemymusic.com/ Wasn't perfect but it did well enough and saved me a lot of time...

Just wanting to lower barriers to entry in getting off 💩 hyper-capitalista arsehole platforms and onto something... less bad...

(I also gotta second the fact that Bandcamp is the best of the bunch, though it's indies-only, no major-label music there.... but a LOT OF GOOD STUFF...)

Transfer Playlists Between Music Services | Tune My Music

Transfer Playlists From Any Music Platform to Any Other Music Platform! Including Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube, Google Play Music, TIDAL and more!

Tune My Music

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja It's actually one of the reasons why I subscribed to Spotify premium again. That "ai war" thing is a great defence tool and is what might save me and my family from a Russian invasion.

magreggins Jul 5, 2025

@ott0disk

They're going to get you. They're targeting you and your family. You better do something about it, like listen to podcasts.

sb arms & legs Jul 5, 2025

@ott0disk @drahardja
That's fucked up, yo. You're backing the wrong horse.

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@sb @drahardja you mean trying to keep me and my family safe is the wrong horse? How's that?

magreggins Jul 5, 2025

The Joe Rogan Experience will keep you and yours safe. You warrior. You absolute hero.

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@magreggins my comment wasn't about Joe Rogan, I barely know who he is and I despise the guy quite a lot.

magreggins Jul 5, 2025

@ott0disk Bro! You need to maintain radio silence otherwise the Russians will find you and kill your whole family! Just listen to some AI-generated lofi beats on Spotify and you'll be okay. Everything will be okay.

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@magreggins I see you're a keyboard warrior! What a hero 🤣🤣

magreggins Jul 5, 2025

You're the real hero, my friend. Facing down the might of the entire Russian military with just your Spotify subscription. Truly legendary. Stay strong and don't let them get your family. But if they do, at least you can drown out their screams with a nice audio book on your favorite streaming service.

sb arms & legs Jul 5, 2025

@ott0disk @drahardja
They are coming for you and your family. Make no miatake.

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@sb @drahardja oh you surely know the future don't you? How do you know Putin isn't going to bomb another Eastern European country? He was pretty upfront about it Finland and the baltics are next in line

sb arms & legs Jul 5, 2025

@ott0disk @drahardja
I understand your fear and concern and your deaire to protect those you love and we are trying to tell you that the people you are giving money to do NOT care about protecting you. They do NOT care to stop Russia.

What they are funding will end up being used against you - against all of us, and the same oligarchs that are funding your very fears will profit.

You are paying for your own persecution.

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@sb @drahardja I understand your point and surely I don't like big corporations but this is different. The ai startup being financed by the Spotify guy is making pretty good weapons that are being already used against the russians in Ukraine. So yeah in the end that money is helping to defend Europe against the invaders.

Mårten Paulsson Jul 5, 2025

@ott0disk @drahardja Spotify schmotify I don’t care, but I am grateful Ukraine is fighting Putin and giving him a hard time time. My 3 kids are in line to be deployed if he attacks here.

Andrea Jul 5, 2025

@MArtenp @drahardja
Yes, whatever the company I will support it if it's fighting Putin. And I really hope he's defeated before he can try something stupid in Finland or the baltics.

Elf Burgerman Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja
Should the Center for Humane Technology - which I can't tag here 😲 - not set a different example?
#CenterforHumaneTechnology

Daughter of Discord Jul 5, 2025

I wasn't really involved in the decision making for this because I leave the "business" decisions to my bandmate, but he used Distrokid to distribute our first album (which is supposed to go wide today, actually) and that means distribution on Spotify. To be clear, he didn't pay for Spotify, it just will get airplay on Spotify.

Considering how left-wing our music is, I'm not sure how I feel about this. But there is no way I will be able to convince him to make sure it doesn't get played on Spotify, and if people hear it on Spotify and then tell others about the band, that's a good thing, right?

Kid Mania Jul 5, 2025

@CosmickTrigger @drahardja
Hey, at least Rogan's on there, right?
☠️ 🇺🇸 ☠️ #doomed
https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/02/02/joe-rogan-inks-new-spotify-deal-worth-up-to-250-million-report-says/?sh=6596c68a425f

Joe Rogan Inks New Spotify Deal Worth Up To $250 Million, Report Says

Rogan has the top podcast on Spotify, exceeding the likes of “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” and “The Tucker Carlson Podcast,” but his show will soon appear on other platforms since the new deal is non-exclusive.

Forbes

Daughter of Discord Jul 5, 2025

@clintruin @drahardja

I mean, I voiced my objections to our music being put onto Spotify, but since my bandmate is paying for the distribution (through Distrokid), I really have no say in the decision at all.

Kid Mania Jul 5, 2025

@CosmickTrigger @drahardja

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Daughter of Discord Jul 5, 2025

@[email protected] @drahardja

Was that guy trying to shame me? Because Joe Rogan gets played on Spotify?

It's like trying to shame me if my music got played on the same radio station that also plays Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.

daniel lublin Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja still not, no. have my collection of music files since nearly three decades

Luc Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja easy to say "don't use x" without "do use y if you want music in your life" :(

LaraK Jul 5, 2025

@luc try Deezer or Bandcamp :)

Ivan Carapovic Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja If you really wanna go down the rabbit hole, most of the tech we rely on is tied to some really bad things somewhere. I would rather let artists handle this for themselves, as there are other options and they can go somewhere else and take their music with them. Spotify is by no means a monopoly. If they are still there, must mean it's still good or better than alternatives.

Agron Noka Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja I support NAPSTER because they pay the artists the highest.
#Napster
https://www.reddit.com/r/punk/comments/188kyps/if_you_consider_streaming_heres_how_much_each/

Graeme 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja Look at what you listen to most on spotify, then go and but the music, preferably from the artist's own website...

GutterPoetry Jul 5, 2025

Spotify donated to trumps inauguration and that's when I stopped giving them money. They also pay artists poorly and some refuse to have their music on Spotify as a result.

Quobuz is the best alternative I've found and is French.

🐜Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja never paid a penny

sb arms & legs Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja
Leaving #spotify? Have an old computer laying around? Why not use this opportunity to start #selfhosting your own media library?

With free and #opensource software like #navidrome or #jellyfin, you can have your own private (or semi-private) streaming service, and listen on any device!

tenkuma Jul 6, 2025

@sb @drahardja Navidrome is absolutely fire! I have used a lot through last years and it's rock solid with small inconveniences with artist separation. It's also REALLY lightweight (ran it in a dual core 1.3ghz, 2GB RAM Windows 8 machine and it worked fine with multiple playbacks at once). It really feels like Spotify when you start building a library music you have prestige and if I had a spare hard drive I would definitively switch back.

sb arms & legs Jul 6, 2025

@tenkuma @drahardja
Right on, glad you like it as much as I do. I have a sizeable collection, so I very rarely have to reach outside. When I need something I'm missing, I buy it from the artist. That's a MUCH better place for my cash.

GinevraCat Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja This is one of my Summer vacation tasks - transferring my podcast subscriptions to AntennaPod.

Sordid Amok!Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja I was never on Spotify.

Sören Meyer-Eppler Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja never been in the first place. Always used tidal, but I honestly don't know if that is any better. In terms of paying musicians almost certainly not.

Is there any streaming service worth endorsing? Or is streaming just inherently part of the problem?

Matt Campbell Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja Are any of the other streaming music services with more or less complete catalogs of major-label music actually any better, or would the only ethically consistent position be to quit using streaming music altogether and go back to maintaining one's own collection?

veroandi Jul 5, 2025

@matt @drahardja

It may help you:

https://social.vivaldi.net/@ueeu/114529945364710746

All Europeans 🇪🇺 (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Using Soundiiz turned out to be even better than we expected. 🙂 The best part is that it not only imports and exports your playlists but also shows which songs, artists, or albums couldn't be found in the new app. You can analyze the batch import results directly in the interface or download them in CSV format. This helps you see how many songs from a specific playlist were successfully imported and which artists or albums couldn't be found. For us, it was crucial to check the availability of tracks on the competitor platform. Since the app we previously used was the most popular worldwide, it had a much larger global repertoire of artists and songs. If you enjoy listening to music from different parts of the world, a US-focused app might not be satisfying. In our case, most tracks were found on the new platform, but some niche playlists had a lower success rate (46%). The availability of your fav music may influence your decision to migrate. If the new platform lacks songs from your fav artists, you might reconsider. But if you can live without some missing tracks, at least you know which ones are unavailable. Most platforms allow you to request missing songs or artists, so don't hesitate to ask. And then it's time to test the other app to see if you like the features, etc. But that's another story :)

Vivaldi Social

@matt Qobuz pays artists more than Spotify, and they also have a store if you want to start beefing up your own collection. The top tier streaming level includes a discount at the store, which I use to encourage myself to buy, as ultimately that pays the artists more than streaming ever will.

nounoursfaisdeschoses Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja i should really start to contribute to siMusic. I only use this app now. Even though Qobuz look nice from what I understood

VessOnSecurity Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja AI-controlled autonomous war drones were first pioneered by Ukraine:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2023/10/17/ukraines-ai-drones-seek-and-attack-russian-forces-without-human-oversight/

Do you still support Ukraine?

Ukraine AI Drones Seek, Attack Russian Forces Without Humans Oversight

The Ukrainian company Saker has confirmed its drones are carrying out autonomous strikes on Russian forces without a human operator.

Forbes

@drahardja @briankrebs
What streaming service has their hands clean(er) that you recommend?

bit101 Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja Nah. I never really liked Spotify. Chose Tidal instead. Mostly for better quality (bitrate etc) music, and the fact that it focuses on music, not other stuff. I'm sure it's got it's own issues, but these days it's about choosing the lesser of multiple evils.

@drahardja I dumped Spotify they day they started being Joe Roegan's fluffer. I wish my cancellation made a bigger difference. This shit is just too out of control.

Lately I've been holding onto my own copies of music and podcasts as tightly as I can.

@drahardja do you have some alternative recommendations?

Mårten Paulsson Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja the startup Helsing is supplying drones to Ukraine.

Alyx Tate Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja all my music is local MP3s and stuff like this is why

Samuel Hierholzer Jul 5, 2025

@drahardja Wowwza! I've been thinking about leaving spotify a few times... Now I have a *very* good argument to finally search for an alternative!

Why can't people - at least once they reach their first fucking billion - just stop thinking about making more money???
Why do they - instead of being really happy that they can do other stuff than having to care for themselves - just drop ALL their morale to get *more rich*? Makes me sick.