According to Metalinjection.net, The Mars Volta‘s Cedric Bixler-Zavala went to his Instagram stories to criticize both Spotify and Backline, the mental health and crisis support organization for music industry workers. Both companies collaborated recently to host a mental health and songwriting summit in Nashville, Tennessee, which is an event that frustrated Bixler-Zavala.
“With Spotify? How are we supposed to take you fucking serious? Ain’t nobody at Spotify give a fuck about mental health,” Bixler-Zavala posted. “Fuck outta here [sic] with this shitty propaganda. This is like forced religious arbitrations with your gremlin abusers. Wake. The. Fuck. Up. While they sit there listening to your humanity, Spotify contributes financially to death of children via military war applications they invest in.”
In 2025, many artists and users alike advocated for boycotting Spotify after it was revealed that Daniel Ek, the streaming service’s co-founder and now-executive chairman, used his venture capital company Prima Materia to raise $693.6 million in fundraising campaign for Helsing, an AI defense software company used for military tech applications. Several musicians, including King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard who had all 27 of their albums on the platform, pulled their music from Spotify because of Ek’s direct funding and association.
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