Spoti-bollocks
The alert reader (hi!) will have seen that I posted that I cancelled my Spotify subscription recently.
Here’s a tiny but exciting update bringing you the full story of Chris Page’s wire-fight conflict with Spotty’s CEO.
Spotify’s business practices, ie, ripping the living financial heart out of everyone that does business with them and eating their entrails, have attracted a little controversy over the years, every year, all the time. Some artists like Joni Mitchel and Neil Young have withheld their music from the platform from time to time, and more are withdrawing now.
Recently, the co-founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, invested (through another of his companies) €600m in military battlefield AI made by Helsing (in addition to an initial €100m two years ago).
Oxymoronic military intelligence fused with moronic artificial intelligence? Feel the collective shudder.
The Israeli military since the beginning of the genocide has been using AI that is functionally similar to Helsing’s to analyse intel and draw up lists of targets. Obviously, that has worked out well, ensuring no innocent people were killed or maimed or burned alive in hospitals along the way.
Apart from the ethics of any kind of armaments, you now have robots drawing up lists of people to kill, where to find them, and how to kill them. When a self-driving Tesla can barely make it down the street without mowing down an old lady or bursting into flames, how do we feel about AI driving a battle? We moral philosophers have a two-word expression for that.
Digression: we note the irony in worrying that battlefield robots will have no compunction about killing innocents, while it’s obvious that most humans on the battlefield already have no compunction about killing innocents. End of digression.
The money that Ek invested in this AI killer tech is derived in part from his profits and stock in Spotify. So my monthly subscription was — even if only a tiny part of that sub — going to the makers of killer apps.
And look at the amount of money Ek has invested — in destruction. If socially applied what could that do? I am reminded of that other tech head, Musk, who declared publicly that if someone could show him how to end world poverty with his wealth, he’d do it, until the UN gave him a plan and he became distracted in a pot of ketamine and forgot all about his challenge.
The news of Ek’s investment has prompted yet more artists to leave Spotify — Deerhoof leading the stampede (see what I did there?) Quite a few users are leaving too, if online comments are anything to go by and a number of friends are doing or have done the same. Good for them! Good for us all!
So, curious, I searched to see if there was any data on just how many users have left the platform. Given Spotify’s spotty record (see what two things I did there?) users must be leaving in their droves and Ek must be on his pleading knees by now.
No, they aren’t and no he bloody well isn’t. In the last quarter the number of new subscribers has actually increased.
Increased! Paying subscribers were up 12% from 276m from 268m at the end of March, and monthly active users were sup 11% to 696m from 678m. But surely Ek noticed I cancelled last Sunday! Down! On! Your knees!
I have no idea where to go from here. Ek has given howevermuchmoney to make horrendous new killing software, and the potential targets of that killing software are rushing to give him yet more money.
A good friend recently marvelled how little response he got from any social media or Substack post he makes about substantial subjects — say, G a z a — but a photo of morning cappuccino with a smily face in the froth will have people beating on the like button as if the coffee had just won the Nobel Prize for being a cup of coffee.
It will be interesting to see whether Spotify’s third-quarter reports show any rise or fall in users. Or it might not. It might be utterly slam-my-head in the closet door demoralising.
Well, there are my spotty, ranty bollocks. I leave them there for you to do with as you will. But the soundtrack will not be brought to you by Grinding-War-Machine-ify.
