In July, prolific Australian genre-benders King Gizzard & The Wizard joined the growing number of artists exiting streaming platform Spotify in protest at company CEO Daniel Ek's €600m investment in German drone maker Helsing.
"Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in Al military drone technology," the band wrote in July. "We just removed our music from the platform. Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?"
And now, as if to prove that money really isn't everything, the band have taken all the albums they removed from Spotify and are selling them on Bandcamp via their "Name Your Price" option, meaning that fans can pay $0.00 and upwards to download any of the albums.
The result of this spectacular generosity is that the current 27 best-selling albums on Bandcamp are all by King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard, with 2023's classic PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation topping the chart and the top three rounded out by 2022's doomy Omnium Gatherum and 2016's Nonagon Infinity.
This run of interrupted chart dominance stops at number 28, with Christopher Larkin (another Australian) interrupting the party with his soundtrack for the video game Hollow Knight: Silksong, before normal service is resumed with another five KGWL releases.
Other artists to have left Spotify in protest at Ek's investments include indie icons Deerhoof, shoegazers Hotline TNT, New Zealand icons The Bats and experimental rock band Xiu Xiu, whose departure statement described Spotify as a "garbage hole violent armageddon portal."
King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard's European tour kicks off in late October. Full dates below.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: 2025 Tour
Oct 31: Manchester Aviva Studios, United Kingdom ^
Nov 01: London Electric Brixton, United Kingdom ^
Nov 02: London Electric Brixton, United Kingdom ^
Nov 04: London Royal Albert Hall, United Kingdom *
Nov 05: Paris La Seine Musicale, France *
Nov 06: Tilburg 013 Poppodium, Netherlands ^
Nov 07: Den Bosch Mainstage, Netherlands *
Nov 09: Gdańsk Inside Seaside Festival, Poland *
Nov 10: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany ^
Nov 11: Prague SaSaZu, Czech Republic ^
Nov 12: Vienna Gasometer, Austria ^
Nov 14: Copenhagen Poolen, Denmark ^
Nov 15: Gothenburg Gothenburg Film Studios, Sweden ^
Dec 02: Sydney Opera House, AU *
Dec 03: Sydney Opera House, AU *
Dec 05: Sydney Enmore Theatre, AU #
Dec 07: Brisbane Fortitude Music Hall, AU #
Dec 09: Brisbane The Princess Theatre, AU *
Dec 12: Melbourne Sidney Myer Music Bowl, AU %
Dec 13: Melbourne Sidney Myer Music Bowl, AU &
* = Orchestral show
^ = Rave show
# = Rock show with Party Dozen
% = Orchestral show with Folk Bitch Trio
& = Rock show with Barkaa
