I missed the 2024 deadline for a Top 10 because I struggled to recall 10 things musically that gave me a lift. I came up with five and gave up. I saw a bunch of live stuff that really gave me the shits so that doesn’t count. Says more about me than the music scene.

Although I could put together a list of 10 excellent music things this year, I thought I’d take a different tack and go all academic on you because the thing that has been most on my mind this year is all the bands hating on Spotify and jumping off it. Partly because of its piss poor payment to, and chronic exploitation of, musicians.

Spotify isn’t alone in this. Although at the bottom end of pay per streams they are in stellar company with YouTube Music, Apple, Amazon and Deezer. But the main reasons artists are boycotting Spotify is because of Daniel Ek’s investment in Helsing, a German AI drone defence company. Purportedly established to boost the defence of European Democracies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard appear to have got the ball rolling with their July 2025 statement:

“Hello friends, A PSA to those unaware: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in AI military drone technology. We just removed our music from the platform. Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better? Join us on another platform.”

With this in mind, my list of 10 this year is tech that the music industry uses that has its roots in, or is manufactured by, military hardware companies or companies that service the military. No doubt I’ll get some hate for this. I’ve already copped some flak (see the August 19 post on my FB page for the conversation). But before I give myself enough rope for you to lynch me with, a few qualifications.

I hate war. I hate violence. I hate the fact that there are companies that make things that kill people and make a profit through war. I hate that the political systems of the world are completely enmeshed in conflict, killing, war and making a profit out of it, one way or another. I even hate hate, which if you wanted to be a pedant would make all of the previous statements untrue.

I consider myself a progressive, have always voted left of centre and only voted for a major party once in my life. I want to make it clear that I am not a war mongering hawk that has any investments in "defence" companies but as a former mediocre academic and a second-rate musician (and only the second best dressed one in Australia at that) I am a bit tired of the naiveté in the criticism of Ek’s investment in Helsing as evil when much of the tech musicians use and indeed the record companies they are on, or who release music they love, have links to the military industrial complex.

Now a few of the people that are jumping off are people I know, admire and like and a few are people I don’t know but admire and like. I have no issue with them making such a decision, but I do want to be a pain in the arse and point out the picture is far more complex than many of us are aware of or are prepared to admit.

I don’t say this to take the piss out of musicians that boycott Spotify for its relationship to Helsing. Or call them out as hypocrites (I don’t think they are). I also think it is fine to take a symbolic stance on one front while being blissfully or wilfully ignorant on others. I think symbolism is important. Symbols are the currency of culture, they say ‘this is who we are, this is what we believe’. And ignorance and contradiction are a constant in the human condition. However, I do think a more informed view of the landscape is warranted so those decisions and those symbols can be put into context.

So without further ado my list of 10 for 2025 is:

The vocoder. Invented at the American communications giant Bell Labs. The vocoder was used in WWII as a means of encrypting radio signals for transmission. If you love the music of Kraftwerk (and I do) you will be familiar with the sound of the vocoder as it was applied to many of their vocals. Bell has a long history of collaboration with the US Military. It is now owned by Nokia.  

The transistor. Think listening to music on your tranny at the beach as a kid. Think of all the transistors in your various musical instruments, effects pedals, amplifiers etc. These were invented by - you guessed it - Bell Labs for the US military. In turn, through this invention, Bell Labs was instrumental in the birth of the digital age which in turn has been used in military communications. Of course, computing and software enabled sampling of music - hi all you hip artists out there - and the development of the CD as well as the inevitable rise of streaming which brings us back to the ever-icky Ek.  

Headphones.  If you are listing to music, recording music or using in ear monitors for live performance you use headphones. One of the early inventors of headphones, Nathaniel Baldwin ,manufactured and supplied them from 1910 to the US Navy. Even perhaps as bad, his motivation for inventing them was so that he could better hear the sermons at his ultra conservative Mormon church. Siemens were also an early developer of headphones and had form in working for the military as far back as 1848 when they built telegraph lines for the Prussian Army. During WWII they used forced labour in concentration camps, even having one in Auschwitz. To this day they still produce hi tech communication products for the military.

Microphones. While I am banging on about Siemens, let’s not forget their early relationship with Sennheiser who supplied Siemens with microphones back in the day. Apart from creating top class microphones and headphones Sennheiser’s Government Systems Corp still supplies a range of audio technologies to the military. I find their live mics very loud and quite harsh, but I guess they have cut through on the battlefield. And if you’ve recorded in the studio, you may have used a Neumann. Purchased by Sennheiser in 1991. However, most of us would have used one, or both, of the workhorses of the live music scene. The Shure SM58 or the Shure SM57. Shure were contracted by the US army in 1941 to supply battlefield mics. Not surprising as the SM58 and SM57 are practically indestructible. Shure continues to supply AV equipment to the US military.

Magnetic tape. No doubt you remember the time when cassettes constantly got chewed up on road trips. Thank Austrian engineer Fritz Pfleumer for inventing magnetic tape and AEG for inventing the first tape recorder. Not sure either of them saw where the humble hexagonal pencil would fit in at the time. AEG also developed aircraft and vehicles for the German military in WWII. 

Compact cassette tape. Dutch multinational Philips who decided reel to reel tape was inconvenient released the cassette in 1963.  Coincidentally Philips owned a record label called Phonogram Records and in 1962 they partnered with the previously mentioned Siemens, who owned Polydor Records, to establish Polygram Records. Philips has a long history of supplying audio equipment to the military and these days they have largely transformed to being a healthcare tech company that sells its wares to the military. For those of you that have an interest in the military activities of Israel Philips was caught out supplying components to it in 2004 in breach of Dutch government policies at the time. Ponder that as you pirate songs from your old PolyGram LPs for your mix tape all you retro groovers.

8 track tape and / or the Learjet. Take your pick. Former US Navy serviceman Bill Lear, the man behind Learjet, also streamlined existing 8 track tech so that it could be installed in cars. Bill supplied the US military with navigation and radio equipment during WWII and the Learjet itself has been supplied to the military. He also founded the Swiss American Aviation Company with the task of redesigning the FFA P-16 jet fighter. If you are a boomer, you may have listened to your music on an 8 track at some point, I know I did on 1 or 2 occasions, and if you are a phenomenally successful musician chances are you have flown on or even own a Learjet. Although I doubt you have an 8-track installed alongside your king-sized waterbed.

Boeing aircraft. While we are on the subject of flying, something most musicians have done at some point when touring, chances are you have been on one of the most ubiquitous aircraft in the world - a Boeing of some description. When you are stuffed back in cattle class for your flight to your next gig give this some thought. Boeing are also a huge developer and supplier of military aircraft.

The Walkman. The ubiquitous Sony invention. Setting aside its, at times, dubious corporate record, Sony has history with the military. Its two founders served in the Japanese Imperial services during WWII and were involved in the development of infra-red guided bombs. Sony electronic components were used in bombs by the US military during the Vietnam War, although it is unclear whether this was sanctioned by Sony or not. Although they have moved away from a direct involvement with military tech it would appear they are still engaged albeit at arm’s length. Sony CCTV cameras are used in the occupied territories in Israel. Sony components have also been found in drone technology manufactured by Iran, and used by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and rockets used by Israel. All that sensor tech they have been developing over the years has come in handy for a number of odious states. Did I mention they also have a record company Sony Music Group founded in 2019? Maybe you were on it once or are now.

Compact Disks. No more hexagonal pencils required to rewind a chewed-up tape to listen to your music. Not developed with a military application in mind but was the result of a joint R&D project by Philips and Sony. Say no more.

So, maybe the beef with Dr Evil Ek is not so much his ties to military tech but the AI dimension of Helsing. The concern that a computer will be making decisions about who to kill or not. This raises the spectre of the fictional Skynet. To be clear, letting a computer make that decision would be appalling.

I’m not sure I like where AI is heading, especially regarding military tech but given the geopolitical state of the world I think it is a bit like Max Smart’s old saying "if only he’d used his genius for good instead of evil". Speaking of evil it is evident that a number of companies mentioned above directly profited from one of the most evil acts associated with a war – the genocide of the Jews and others in Nazi concentration camps in WWII.

Well that’s probably enough now to ruin your Christmas gig.

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