Spotify Update: The Internal Struggle Continues
I left Spotify in July 2025. That decision, and the reasoning behind it, is documented elsewhere on this site. The ethical position hasn't changed.
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What has changed is this: I've put a small number of singles back on the platform.
I’m not writing this or drawing attention to my decision for any form of publicity. I’m just keen to be transparent and to help other musicians going through the same dilemma. If you’ve found this article, it’s likely to have been through a web search. I’m not planning to push it anywhere.
The practical reasons are straightforward. Festival bookers and promoters use Spotify as a first port of call when considering an artist. Without any presence there, I was effectively invisible to a significant portion of the people whose job it is to put musicians on stages. That's not a theoretical problem — it's one I ran into directly.
There was also, at one point over the last few months, some interest from a record company that appeared to cool when my Spotify position became clear. I don't know how seriously to weigh that. But I can't afford to be naive about the way the industry works, or to throw away opportunities on a point of principle that the other party doesn't share. (Even writing this, I feel conflicted. I feel that having any presence on Spotify lets people down — the artists who've stayed off it, the listeners who followed me there on principle, the version of myself that made the original decision with some conviction. That feeling hasn't gone away. I've just decided I can't afford to act on it in the same way.)
So there's now a handful of tracks on Spotify. A calling card, nothing more. If you want the full catalogue — the albums, the compilation, the new recordings — Bandcamp is where that lives, and always will be.
I looked at what other artists who'd publicly left Spotify had actually done over time. The picture is mixed. Some had taken most of their catalogue down but left a few tracks up. Some had quietly returned in full. Some had, on reflection, never really left. As far as I could tell, I was the only one who had gone completely. That's partly temperament — I have a tendency toward all-or-nothing, which can be a blessing and a curse. In this case, the compromise I couldn't bring myself to make earlier turned out to be the one that cost me. I'm not sure how to feel about that.
I'm not naming names and I'm not judging anyone. The industry pressures are real, and everyone draws the line somewhere different.
I'm sorry to any musicians who followed what I did. That first Instagram post reached an audience I hadn't anticipated, and if it influenced someone to take their music off the platform and they lost out as a result, I regret that. I don't regret calling out Spotify, though — I think that was right, and I think anyone who helped spread the word that alternatives exist, and that their are connections there to AI weaponry, did something worthwhile. But I was speaking from my own situation, with my own tolerance for the consequences. Not everyone's circumstances are the same, and I should have been clearer about that.
I’m not convinced that this will be my last word on the subject. My feelings about the decision I’ve made keep me up at night, and they fluctuate constantly. I’ll keep you updated, should you find yourself interested.
