Quitting Spotify (ft. Deerhoof)

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In June 2025, indie veterans Deerhoof scrubbed their entire catalog from the world’s dominant streaming platform. The catalyst wasn't low royalties, but Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek’s investment in AI military technology through his investment firm Prima Materia. Greg Saunier and Satomi Matsuzaki explain why they are prioritizing their ethics over exposure. They argue that the "convenience" of streaming traps us in harmful systems. They’d prefer listeners explore alternative paths to hear their music. That’s why the band premiered their latest single on Craigslist. And it’s they half jokingly say they "would rather our fans steal our music than stream our music at this point." SONGS DISCUSSED Deerhoof: Immigrant Song, Scarcity is Manufactured, Life is Suffering, Return of the Return of the Fire Trick Star MORE Get Zach Tenorio's synth extraveganza 'Field Trip' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Switched on Pop comes from Sonos.
0:02.8	Nothing quite makes a holiday gathering like turning on the music, and if you're looking to set the mood, you should check out Sonos.
0:08.7	With Sonos, movie nights feel bigger and more cinematic.
0:12.4	While holiday parties come alive with music that flows from room to room, it's the kind of sound that makes a house feel warm and connected during the season.
0:20.6	Want studio quality sound at home.
0:22.8	Explore Sonos, speakers, soundbars, and more at Sonos.com.
0:26.5	And discover how easy it is to build your own whole room audio system.
0:30.4	Discover how easy it is to bring every room to life with incredible sound.
0:34.6	Explore Sonos speakers, soundbars, and more at Sonos.com.
0:43.8	Welcome to Switched on Pop.
0:49.2	I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
0:50.7	At the turn of the millennium, the music industry was in freefall. While labels scrambled to
0:55.2	plug the leak with digital downloads and ringtones, piracy was winning. But in 2008,
1:00.4	Spotify officially launched and popularized the streaming model by 2017. Streaming had become the
1:06.1	largest revenue source and recorded music. The business was back from the dead. According to Spotify,
1:11.2	the company has distributed $60 billion to music rights holders from its founding through
1:15.6	2024, $10 billion of that in the last year alone. But this recovery has come with significant
1:20.8	friction. For years, artists withheld catalogs and rallied against opaque fractions of a penny
1:25.8	compensation. Now, in 2025, these frustrations
1:29.0	are starting to boil over. Earlier this year, we talked with Liz Peli, whose book The Moon Machine,
1:34.1	investigates some of the perceived issues with Spotify's model, and the backlash has since
1:38.4	escalated with various lawsuits and listener boycotts. And then in June 2025, a new kind of
	...

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