Godspeed You! Black Emperor Have Removed Their Music From Streaming Services

The Canadian post-rock band has begun removing all of its music from streaming platforms this morning.

Update 12:53 pm 19/8: article updated with comment from Constellation Records.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor have started to pull their music from streaming services. As of this morning, their music no longer remains on Spotify and Tidal. Even smaller platforms, such as Qobuz, were affected. The band have also been removing their catalogue from Apple Music, with only Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven and F# A# ∞ remaining on the platform.

No statement has been released to confirm Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s decision to pull their music from streaming.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor aren’t the only artist who has recently pulled their music from streaming platforms. In the past month, fellow indie rockers Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu and King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard have all pulled their music from Spotify. In statements, each band confirmed that their decision was due to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s multimillion-dollar investments in AI military drone technology through the German firm Helsing.

However, Godspeed You! Black Emperor has taken the next step by removing all of their music from streaming services entirely.

As of writing, only the song ‘Outro’ from the 2004 compilation album Song Of The Silent Land, released by Constellation Records, remains on Spotify. This could be due to a similar situation King Gizard And The Lizard Wizard experienced. 

The Australian group were able to remove most of their music from Spotify in a single day, due to their history of distributing their music through their labels. However, there were some complications in taking down their Satanic Slumber Party EP with Tropical Fuck Storm.  

This was due to the EP being released via Joyful Noise, the band’s first and only release through a label other than their own. Joyful Noise stated that they would remove the album if both parties requested it. As of writing, the EP no longer remains on Spotify.

In a statement shared with Blunt Magazine, “Constellation can confirm confirm that Godspeed requested their catalogue be removed from all digital platforms except Bandcamp.”

“Neither the band nor the label has any further comment to make at this time.”

Godspeed You! Black Emperor released their eighth studio album, No Title As of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead, last year. The album is named after, at the time, the Palestinian death toll of Israel’s war in Gaza as reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry.