We've banned Spotify links in IU for a couple practical reasons, and those can be summed up in just a few paragraphs.

  1. 1.

    Running ICE Recruitment Ads During Domestic Operations

Spotify repeatedly accepted ad revenue from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to run recruitment campaigns across its platform. These ad placements ran concurrently with aggressive enforcement actions and militarized raids across American cities, operations that terrorized communities, tore families apart, and resulted in the deaths of civilians, including U.S. citizens like Keith Porter (12/31/2025), Renee Good (1/7/2026), Alex Pretti (1/24/2026). Platforming and profiting from federal enforcement campaigns while those exact agencies inflict violence on the public is unacceptable. We refuse to let our community feed ad impressions or listener revenue into a network running PR for enforcement raids.

Even if Spotify has finally pulled those ads, IU still stands firm on this point. Spotify shouldn't be forgiven. It shouldn't have taken months of public pressure for Spotify to kill those ads

  1. 2.

    Direct Capital and Executive Ties to AI-Powered Military Weapons

Spotify’s founder and CEO, Daniel Ek, has directed hundreds of millions of euros from his investment firm, Prima Materia, into Helsing, an AI defense firm specializing in live battlefield algorithmic targeting, autonomous combat software, and military drone applications. Profits extracted from musicians, artists, and daily streaming subscribers are being turned directly into venture capital for automated, AI-driven lethal systems. The tech running our music queues should not double as seed capital for algorithmic warfare and autonomous weapons development.

What to Use Instead

Infinite Universe was built to be a resilient, community-first space, and that extends to the tools and infrastructure we choose to integrate. We encourage everyone to share and support artists through platforms that respect both creative labor and basic human dignity:

  1. 1.

    Bandcamp: Still the best standard for direct-to-artist compensation and track sharing.

  2. 2.

    Direct artist sites & independent storefronts: Buying physical media, downloads, or merch directly from the creator.

  3. 3.

    Tidal, Qobuz, or Apple Music: Viable streaming alternatives for casual listening links that don't funnel equity directly into defense contracting. Yes, Apple Music is available on Android and Windows, you can even get Cider an alternative Apple Music client for Linux, Windows, Mac, and Android