Spotify—Artists boycotted Spotify after CEO Daniel Ek led $694M investment in AI military drone company Helsing
In June 2025, Daniel Ek's venture capital firm Prima Materia led a 600-million-euro investment in Helsing, a European defense tech firm developing AI-powered drones and weapons systems. Ek serves as Helsing's chairman. Artists including King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof, and Xiu Xiu removed their music from Spotify in protest. The boycott reignited frustrations over Spotify's royalty model, with artists objecting to streaming revenue indirectly funding weapons development.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.044 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)× agency (incidental ×0.1)
Evidence (1 signal)
Multiple artists removed music from Spotify protesting CEO's Helsing defense tech investment
Artists including King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, and David Bridie removed their music from Spotify after CEO Daniel Ek led a 600-million-euro investment in Helsing, which develops AI-powered drones and weapons systems. Deerhoof's Greg Saunier said 'We don't want our music killing people.' NPR reported the boycott reignited frustrations with Spotify's royalty model.