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Deradoorian<\/a> is the latest artist to pull music from Spotify<\/a>. The singer-songwriter and former Dirty Projectors<\/a> member cited chief executive Daniel Ek\u2019s weapons investments\u2014the main motive for the recent exodus\u2014and alluded to recent online content accusing the platform of expanding its music usage rights. Spotify clarified in a statement that Spotify for Artists terms have not changed, and said those terms do not govern artists\u2019 music rights.<\/p>\n Many of Deradoorian\u2019s albums have already been taken down from Spotify but, she noted<\/a>, remain available to stream and buy elsewhere. Her statement begins, \u201cSince Spotify came along, I have always felt skeptical and opposed to their platform. Because it became the norm, I felt like I had to just put up with it and take what I could get. Perhaps that was true more so in the nascent stages of my solo career, but it doesn\u2019t feel that way now.\u201d She added that Ek\u2019s investment in the artificial-intelligence weapons contractor Helsing prompted her to dig into other issues around the platform, such as the way Spotify uses artists\u2019 music. The \u201cslow erosion,\u201d\u00a0she wrote, of \u201cour perceived ownership over our music\u2014and the way its profits were used\u2014was now too egregious to ignore.\u201d Deradoorian admitted she did not conduct intensive research but said, \u201cWe all know that Spotify practices bad business. So, I just made the choice to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email, a Spotify spokesperson said: \u201cYou might be seeing some misinformation online about a \u2018change\u2019 to the Spotify for Artists\u2019 Terms of Use. These claims are false.\u201d The spokesperson clarified that confusion about music usage rights revolves around a phrase that appears prominently in its terms of use: \u201cuser content.\u201d That refers not to artists\u2019 music but to listener content: \u201cthings like listener-created playlist covers, podcast comments, and playlist titles,\u201d according to the statement. Terms of use for listeners\u2014not artists\u2014were recently updated, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n Last week, Massive Attack became the biggest artist yet to announce<\/a> its departure from Spotify, primarily citing Ek\u2019s investment in Helsing. They also shared a separate statement about joining No Music for Genocide<\/a>, which calls for artists to geoblock their music in Israel. (Spotify for Artists has clarified that Helsing is not involved in Gaza.) The band joined an exodus that includes Hotline TNT<\/a>, Young Widows<\/a>, Godspeed You! Black Emperor<\/a>, WU LYF<\/a>, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard<\/a>, Xiu Xiu<\/a>, and Deerhoof<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the avoidance of doubt, Deradoorian concludes her statement, \u201cI do not support AI technology that\u2019s built to spy on us, create weapons to kill us, and utilize psychological tactics to dumb us down to the point of not questioning our reality and devolving our neural connections. It\u2019s important to employ your mental faculties and ability to question in these times and I am trying harder to do that more consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n