Something interesting is going on regarding King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. The ridiculously prolific Australian psych rock band, who left Spotify in the summer in protest at Daniel Ek’s investment in AI drone technology, may have shone a light for other artists contemplating a post-Spotify future.
The band have taken all their albums – and there are a lot of them, 27 in fact – and put them on Bandcamp at a ‘name your price’ option where punters can pay anything over a penny to download them.
Previously, their albums were available (like most on the platform) at a minimum of $10. Meanwhile paying supporters get unlimited streaming of King Gizzard’s music on the free app.
The result? They now have all 27 of the top 27 selling albums on Bandcamp.
The ‘name your price’ option, isn’t anything new, of course. Radiohead were the innovators here: when In Rainbows came out in 2007, fans could purchase initial digital copies in that manner.
But while the King Gizzard’s accountants are probably still drilling down into the detail of the platform move, initial indications would seem to show that it’s been successful.
And their consciences are clear too. The band announced ther switch in July, writing: "Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in Al military drone technology. We just removed our music from the platform. Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?"
They’ve joined others, including indie band Deerhoof, shoegazers Hotline TNT and experimental electronic rock band Xiu Xiu as Spotify-refuseniks. More will surely follow.
King Gizzard embark on a European tour in late October, which will include two nights at Brixton’s Electric and an orchestra-assisted Royal Albert Hall date. They’ve only (only!) released one new album – Phantom Island – this year. But there will probably be another one along before too long.
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