my art, my fucking “terms and conditions”
Published on 31st of June 2025Just to cite a recent example: a few days ago, Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, invested €600 million in Helsing, a German firm developing AI-driven combat drones and military surveillance tech. Whether we want it or not, we’ve all been drafted into this new techno-feudal wet dream, where art lives on systems increasingly aligned with consumption and conflict rather than creativity.
As an artist, and, first and foremost, a lifelong music fan, I often feel stuck. Paralysed, even. Unsure where to turn, unsure what to trust. The internet once felt like a playground for curiosity and creation. Now, it feels diseased; poisoned down to its last line of code. And if you still believe the future will resemble the past, I hope that’s because you chose it.
Which brings me to a choice of my own:
In a few days, I’ll be pulling all my music from nearly every major streaming platform. I refuse to let my work, quietly, by association, feed into a techno-fascist fantasy built on AI and data mining. Honestly, I’ve poured more into these platforms than I’ve ever gotten back. These money-laundering, AI-infected, oppressive, war- and surveillance-symbiotic services are aging me, and it hurts.
But here’s the good news: creativity isn’t dying. The rules are changing—and so must we.
I want to be proud of the things I make until the day I’m gone. And if that means setting my own “Terms and Conditions,” then count me in.
I pay my deepest respects to anyone standing their ground, poised under the weight of these technofascist systems. Please, take care of your art, your energy, and, of course, yourself.
If you're open to it, I’d love to keep the conversation going over email.
I’d love to hear how you’re resisting all this.
For the future.
With love,
The Past
“MY ART, MY FUCKING ‘TERMS AND CONDITIONS’” is the final title I chose for the this meditation. However, I came up with a bunch of alternative titles, so many, in fact, that I decided to honor them by turning each into a poster.
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