Why I Left Spotify

9/1/26 UPDATE: After heartfelt pleas from people I like a lot, I have put one album and one single back on this wretched platform. The rest will ONLY follow once I win my lawsuit against Spotify demanding that all of their employees henceforth grow twirly mustaches and wear capes in the workplace.

My music remains available on all other platforms ... YOU CAN READ WHAT HAPPENED HERE:

Spotify was never essential to my work as I compose primarily for film, television, documentaries and media. But, I always made my music available on the platform to make it accessible for everyone to listen. Because, I love you people.

Recently, a track of mine was added, without my knowledge, to a playlist service called Wavr. These scam operations use bot-generated streams and mix in legitimate artists to appear credible. They are basically Bond villains without the nice suit.

Spotify flagged the activity as “artificial streaming.” When I was notified of this, both Spotify and my distributor confirmed that it was a common scam and I was an unknowing victim. Nevertheless, inexplicably a fine was taken from my royalties, and the entire album was removed and blacklisted. I swore at my wall for hours on end and swore vengeance.

There is no appeal process. No meaningful recourse. This is their policy regardless of guilt or innocence. Spotify does not pursue the bad actors. Instead, the system penalizes the artists whose work is used without consent. Those of you signed to a major label are protected by a direct relationship and should be ok. However, the vast majority of my musician friends are independents and rely on third party distributors. This leaves you open to the same scam and fines. We should raise an army with pitchforks and everything.

The fine itself was relatively small. That’s not the point. The liability is open-ended. At any time, an artist’s catalog can be exposed to activity they didn’t initiate, and be held financially responsible for it. It's actually a very clever business model. Spotify pays an artist 67 cents for 10 million plays and then fines them $11 for 165 plays that someone else manufactured in a scam.

I do not wish to be a part of such a platform that rewards bond villains and have therefore removed my music from Spotify effective immediately.