SF indie band Xiu Xiu slams Spotify as ‘garbage hole,’ says its taking its music off

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A San Francisco indie band slammed Spotify as a “garbage hole” and announced it would be removing its music over the company’s ties to AI and the military. Xiu Xiu, a local group that traces its roots back to the late 1990s, took to Instagram Thursday to announce the move, saying, “We are currently working to take all of our music off of garbage hole violent armageddon portal Spotify.”

The band, according to AllMusic, is known for confronting difficult emotions in its music which is described as “an intense mix of post-punk, synth pop, folk, Asian percussion music, experimental noise, modern composition, and more.”

Removing its music from Spotify, Xiu Xiu continued, “is taking longer than we had hoped due to procedurally complications but will be completed soon.”

In a caption accompanying the post, the band cited the reason for the move, saying, “Spotify uses music money to invest in AI war drones.”

Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek has reportedly invested nearly $700 million into European defense technology firm, Helsing, which develops AI software for military usage.

“Thanks for the support and patience,” Xiu Xiu wrote. “For all the reasons you already know — PLEASE CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WITH SPOTIFY.”

Xiu Xiu’s move to take its music off the streaming platform follows a similar move from fellow SF indie band, Deerhof, which announced it was taking its music off Spotify last month for the same reason.