Exit Strategies: Why Saetia Left Spotify and Why Tesla Stopped Making Albums (They're Not The Same Story)

Bruiser

26 Oct 2025 — 6 min read

Photo by Drew Perales (Unsplash), Edited/Rendered by gpt-image-1

Screamo legends Saetia pulled their entire catalog from Spotify. If you're expecting another thinkpiece about artistic purity and the death of albums—surprise. This story is messier and more interesting. Saetia's taking a stand on ethics and politics. Veteran rockers Tesla are making different calculations about their careers. Two bands, two exits, two different reasons.

Let's start with what happened.

The Political Is Personal

In their statement, Saetia didn't mince words: "Spotify in particular does not at all align with the band's values or ethos." But here's what they meant—and it's not some vague philosophy about authenticity or algorithms.

Spotify ran ICE recruitment advertisements for Immigration and Customs Enforcement—the federal agency responsible for border enforcement and deportations. Spotify was selling ad space to them. Spotify paid Joe Rogan a reported $200 million while compensating musicians with fractions of pennies per stream. CEO Daniel Ek invested in Helsing, a military AI company.

This isn't streaming versus vinyl. This isn't the purity of physical media. Saetia made this crystal clear: "To be clear, Saetia is not opposed to accessing music on streaming platforms. In fact, we acknowledge (and even celebrate!) the fact that the majority of Saetia fans discovered the band by way of file sharing and streaming services."

They're not anti-streaming. They're anti-Spotify's-specific-business-practices.

And they're not alone. Massive Attack, Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Hotline TNT, Young Widows—a wave of artists pulled their music for the same reasons. This is political protest, not a format war.

The Numbers Game Nobody Wins

Saetia has a point about streaming economics. Artists need massive play counts to cover basic costs. The brutal reality of an ecosystem where the platform takes the lion's share and divvies up scraps among millions of artists.

But economics didn't drive Saetia's exit. They left because they refuse to let their music sit next to ICE recruitment ads. They left because they refuse to join a portfolio for a CEO investing in military AI. When your art pads the profits of a company doing things you find morally reprehensible, sometimes you say no.

The band's message to fans who relied on Spotify? "To those of you who purchased or downloaded our music — make copies for your friends that typically stream us on Spotify." They chose principles over reach, asking fans to meet them there.

Meanwhile, in a Different Universe

Now let's talk about Tesla, because if you think their story is about the same thing, buckle up for disappointment.

Tesla—the veteran rock band behind "Love Song" and "Signs"—shifted to releasing singles instead of full albums. And before you start writing your own thinkpiece about how streaming killed the album, let me stop you.

Here's what guitarist Frank Hannon said: "At our point of our career that we're at now after 40 years and being older guys, it doesn't make sense to try to fabricate 10 songs, just to put all 10 songs out on one record... The amount of work it takes to create a full 10-song album, and then when you play your show, with a band like TESLA, who's got 40 years of songs that we've gotta play in our show in 90 minutes, we're not gonna even be allowed to play any of these new songs. So it makes much more sense to have fun and create one great new song."

This is about:

Being 40 years into a career
Having a catalog deep enough the new songs won't make the setlist
Touring 60 to 75 shows a year
Band members scattered geographically
Wanting to "have fun and create one great new song"

Bassist Brian Wheat: "It takes so much time... We do 60 to 75 shows a year. There's that. We've been doing it for 40 years... I don't wanna spend a year of TESLA's life with a band that's on their 40th year when TESLA could be out playing to people."

This isn't defeat. This isn't resistance. This is a band making practical business decisions about how to spend their time at this stage of their lives.

And About Streaming...

Here's what makes the Tesla story even less about anti-streaming sentiment: In March 2025, they celebrated a milestone, posting: "New milestone reached at Spotify, our catalog has surpassed 300 million streams. Thank you!"

They're not rejecting streaming. They're using it. They're celebrating it. Phil Collen-produced "Shock" from 2019? Still out there, still streaming, still connecting with fans.

The singles strategy isn't about algorithms or artistic defeat—it's about being in your 60s, having paid your dues, having a deep catalog, and making choices to enjoy playing music instead of grinding through album production cycles with no payoff.

About economics? Hannon's been candid about Tesla's financial situation: "We're not rich. We never became millionaires... we have to tour a lot to make a living." They're making decisions based on the realities of being working musicians who need to tour to survive. Not romantic, but honest.

Two Stories, One Lesson

Here's what we've got: Saetia making an ethical stand against specific corporate practices they find unconscionable. Tesla making practical career decisions about how to work smarter in their seventh decade.

These aren't the same story. Conflating them does a disservice to both.

Saetia's move is about refusing complicity. When a platform's values clash with yours this fundamentally—when they profit from human suffering and use artists as content to subsidize controversial figures while investing in military technology—sometimes you walk away from the reach and the money. This is legitimate, and it's worth supporting.

Tesla's move is about sustainability and enjoyment at a certain career stage. When you've been doing this for 40 years, when you tour constantly, when new album tracks won't even make your setlist, why burn yourselves out making albums nobody asked you to make? Focus on what works. Release singles when inspiration strikes. Celebrate your streaming success. Live to fight another day.

What This Means

The real story isn't about streaming killing music or artists rejecting technology. It's more nuanced and more interesting.

It's about artists having agency to make different choices for different reasons. Saetia can pull their music on principle. Tesla can embrace streaming while adapting their output. Both are legitimate responses to different problems in different contexts.

If you're looking for a simple narrative about The Death of Music or Artists Fighting Back Against Big Tech, you're going to be disappointed. Real life is messier. Some bands make political choices. Some make practical ones. Some do both. Some do neither.

What matters is understanding what's happening instead of forcing everything into a predetermined narrative about authenticity or resistance or the good old days.

Saetia's betting enough people care about the politics of where their music lives to seek it out elsewhere. They might be right. They might be wrong. But at least they're making their stand based on clearly articulated principles.

Tesla's betting singles and touring make more sense than albums at this point in their careers. Given their 300 million streams and packed tour schedules, they're probably right.

Two bands. Two exits. Two different stories. And it's fine. Music is big enough to contain multitudes—even when some of those multitudes pull out of certain platforms while others celebrate milestones on those same platforms.

The takeaway? Stop trying to make every artist's decision fit your preferred narrative. Listen to what they're saying. The reality is usually more interesting anyway.