deadmau5 Responds to Controversial Remarks by Spotify CEO, Threatens to Remove Music

deadmau5 has spoken out against controversial remarks made by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.

The influential DJ and producer recently took to Instagram to condemn recent comments by Ek, who myopically stated that the cost of creating content is "close to zero." Considering the financial and physical sacrifices required to create the material that keeps his company in business, artists swiftly panned Ek's post en masse.

"Incorrect," deadmau5 wrote. "The cost of creating content was 25+ years of my life and much of those proceeds going to your company you complete fucking idiot."

Today, with the cost of creating content being close to zero, people can share an incredible amount of content. This has sparked my curiosity about the concept of long shelf life versus short shelf life. While much of what we see and hear quickly becomes obsolete, there are…

— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) May 29, 2024

View the original article to see embedded media.

Responding to a fellow artist's comment admonishing Spotify, deadmau5 mused on removing his library from the platform entirely.

"I feel that, I'm about to pull my catalog from these fucking vultures, enoughs enough," he wrote.

deadmau5 is one of countless electronic music artists who have expressed concerns about the business model of Spotify. It's worth noting that the streaming giant continues to rake in annual revenues in the billions, per Business of Apps, after Ek hiked the price of subscriptions again this month.

Meanwhile, musicians are appealing to Congress to push for an increase in streaming royalties. The fight rages on after a recent study suggested that independent artists currently need to accrue 5 million streams to earn the equivalent of the U.S. minimum wage. That was before Spotify announced that musicians and songwriters would need to meet a minimum stream threshold before they're eligible to obtain royalties for their music featured on the platform.

deadmau5's catalog is still available on Spotify at this time of this writing.

X: x.com/deadmau5
Instagram: instagram.com/deadmau5
TikTok: tiktok.com/@deadmau5
Facebook: facebook.com/deadmau5
Spotify: spoti.fi/3otTHVp