Stu Mackenzie talks about her exit from Spotify, the consequences for fans and her DIY attitude.
“Fuck Spotify,” King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard recently said – and their entire catalog was gone from the major streaming platform. No more support for a company that invests in weapons. The band has received even more support since then. A conversation about the situation with singer and multi-instrumentalist Stu Mackenzie.
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You haven’t been on Spotify for a while now. Do you feel like something is missing?
STU MACKENZIE: Nothing has changed for me at all. I make music with my friends and am grateful that it has worked for so many years. I’m glad we’re no longer on Spotify – it still feels like the right decision. Simply because there are enough things there that are really dark and mean that we as musicians no longer fit in there. Leaving was a logical step. And in everyday life it honestly makes no difference whether we are there to stream or not.
So it wasn’t as risky as it initially sounds?
Let’s put it this way: I like taking risks. But I also know that that’s not every artist’s thing. We didn’t care about the consequences, but it’s understandable if you don’t want to cause them in the first place and would rather stay with Spotify. I’m not judging other musicians – I just want to encourage people to do what feels right to them, rather than what they think they should do. The world is already such a damn complicated place.
How did Spotify feel “dark” to you?
Spotify itself is not a dark place at all. Rather, it’s a place where people can listen to and discover music – which I think is great and which makes me sad at the same time because people can’t find us there anymore. I want our music to be successful. I want people to be able to just click on their phone and play our songs. That’s the dream. Nevertheless: We left because we don’t want to be part of anything that is connected to the military, artificial intelligence and drone warfare. Spotify is a terrible company. And of course, we’re still on Apple Music and YouTube, which also have their bad sides. It’s a complex problem and we’re not done with it as a band yet. I don’t want to morally elevate myself above others – all I can say is that we are in the privileged position of being able to leave Spotify. We don’t have a big record company breathing down our necks, we do our own thing. Being radical is easier when you’re a DIY band. But I think it’s good to be able to at least start a conversation.
What were people’s reactions to your anti-Spotify move?
People tell me all the time, “Good for you!” Personally, I really haven’t had a negative reaction to it yet. But we also get emails and messages on socials about how it’s become inconvenient for people to listen to our music. And that’s a shame. This is a consequence that should prevent 99 Artists from making the same decision as us. Nobody wants to inconvenience the people who like their music. But I have to accept it now.
That’s why you’re now a chart band, because many of your albums were and are at the top of the Bandcamp charts for best-selling records. Does that feel weird?
It’s definitely strange. And flattering at the same time. What is striking me more and more at the moment is the enormous scale that King Gizzard has now taken on, which makes it more and more abstract for me. Being on the charts with your own band feels like it would happen to someone else. It’s hard for me to understand the whole thing on a deep, intuitive level.
How abstract is it to talk about the income you have generated and continue to generate through streaming?
This is difficult to figure out because the paychecks we receive are bundled with those of the distributor for all streaming services. And we have sales partners all over the world. You would have to spend a lot of time with accounting to understand that. But I know that the streaming money doesn’t play a big role for us. It is a smaller source of income than others with which we finance our musical existence. I’m really happy that we can still pay our bills with our music – and on our terms.
In addition to continuous touring, you also constantly deliver merch in all directions. That sure makes good cash.
I have to emphasize at this point that I don’t want to be a brand. But I know that as a band we are also seen as a brand and that that is part of the business. I hate the brand thing about being a musician. I just want to make music. And yes, I like being on stage, I like performing in front of an audience. But what I really love is pure music making. This is what I make the most room for in my brain. And then I leave a little bit for the awareness that I have to live on something and that that requires a certain amount of money. On the other hand, it’s nice that I get to work with an artist like Jason Galea, even on this must-have part of the job the majority of our merch artwork might.
Your statement about leaving Spotify was also about how you wanted to stay true to yourself. What other activities contribute to this self-loyalty for you?
I am someone who thinks a lot about how I affect the earth. Part of it is that I hate having to get on a plane and fly around the world to tour. That’s why I’m racking my brain about how I can counteract this. How can I make a positive impact on the world? This is something the whole band is involved in and we’ve tried different things in the past and partnered with different organizations and charities. Of course, it would be great if, with our departure from Spotify, we also started a discussion about how we could all become more conscious people. That would be a good thing.
More about King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
The DIY band from Melbourne, Australia began making music together in 2010. Stu Mackenzie and his extremely productive large group have now released over 20 albums – somewhere between psychedelic rock, garage and prog. In July 2025 they pulled their entire catalog from Spotify. On Bandcamp you can now buy their albums for the amount of money you are willing to pay – which could be zero euros.