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Deerhoof did not want its music ‘funding AI battle tech’ — so it ditched Spotify

Drummer Greg Saunier explains the moral calculus behind leaving the biggest streaming platform.

The impetus was Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s newest investment in Helsing, the German defense group that makes AI and drones. I called up Greg Saunier, Deerhoof’s drummer, to talk about how streaming supports war efforts, how much money the band made from Spotify, and where they drew the moral line. His particular fetishes and hobbies and fantasies of what he would like to do with his multibillion dollars is slightly different, perhaps, than Daniel Ek’s, but it’s obviously been clear, at least since the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Trump’s first election, that that he both desires and succeeds at being involved in politics.

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