KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD Pull Music From Spotify in Protest of CEO’s AI Military Investment

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have removed a large portion of their discography from Spotify, citing ethical concerns over the streaming platform’s leadership. The Australian psych rock giants confirmed the move via Instagram today, stating that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investment in AI military technology was the catalyst behind the decision.

“A PSA to those unaware: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in AI military drone technology.
We just removed our music from the platform.
Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?
Join us on another platform.”

The band’s most recent album Phantom Island, along with several prior releases including Flight b741, The Silver Cord, and PetroDragonic Apocalypse, are now missing from Spotify. The affected titles appear to be those released under the band’s independent KGLW label, while older albums distributed through Flightless Records, ATO Records, and other outside labels remain available.

On July 25, 2025, the band also released a new collection of bootlegs, Demos Vol. 7+8, with a caption that read:

“New demos collection out everywhere except Spotify (fuck Spotify). You can bootleg it if you wanna…”

The protest follows mounting backlash against Spotify and Daniel Ek, who helped raise $693.6 million in funding for military AI startup Helsing through his venture capital firm Prima Materia. Artists including Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof have also begun removing their music from the platform in response.

Spotify has long faced criticism for its royalty payout structure and controversial content deals. As of now, King Gizzard’s music remains available on other major digital service providers.

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