This week we're diving into why bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and King Gizzard are pulling their music from Spotify - and why it probably won't change anything.

It's a trickier situation than it seems, but the whole mess starts with Napster in 1999. 80 million people sharing MP3s illegally crashed the music industry, dropping revenue 15% in four years and creating a chain reaction that led to piracy running rampant for much of the 00s.

Enter Daniel Ek in 2006 with Spotify, which was built initially using pirated music from The Pirate Bay, telling you everything about how much they value artists. But it worked. By offering free access to entire music catalogues (with ads), Spotify created something no competitor can match without hemorrhaging money.

Today, 412 million people use Spotify's free tier. That's the foundation of their dominance - not the 263 million paying subscribers.

But this creates an impossible situation for artists. Big names with established fanbases can afford to leave, but new artists risk invisibility. Record labels and promoters judge bands by Spotify monthly listeners and post-gig discovery relies on easy music access, meaning that pulling your music from this platform could be potentially damaging for their careers.

The "just use Bandcamp" argument misses the point - it's a different business model entirely. Bandcamp is buying a car; Spotify is hiring any car you want. And as it turns out, a LOT of people prefer hiring now.

But the real problem isn't Spotify - it's "technofeudalism." Tech platforms operate like medieval fiefdoms where users become trapped serfs. Artists complain about Spotify royalties while creating free content for Instagram and TikTok, which monetise their labour through surveillance capitalism.

The arms investment angle (Daniel Ek's €600m in AI weapons) sounds damning until you realise Google runs military AI projects for Israel, Meta builds battlefield AR for the US military, and all big tech props up the military-industrial complex.

Their conclusion is bleak: there's no way out. The market expects free music and won't change. Mass boycotts might work but won't happen. The only real solution is direct artist support - gigs, merch, Bandcamp purchases, because it's almost impossible for anyone to truly extricate themselves from terrible machinery of the current internet era.

As stated at numerous points in this episode, a lot of the things discussed here can be found in the documentary Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus. We urge you to go check out that film here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/qlazzarus as it is a brilliant piece of work.

It is, in fact, that only "official" release by Q Lazzarus. She would later go on to appear in Demme's next film, the wonderful Philadelphia, singing a cover of Roxy Music's classic tune "Heaven". After that, though, she would simply vanish from the industry entirely.

So what happened? Why did this seemingly promising up and coming artist, who had two huge brushes with fame, suddenly disappear without trace? Well, it's a rather complicated, and compelling, story that touches on industry discrimination, artist exploitation, and the music business's treatment of unique talents. This week we dive into that story, with the help of a remarkable documentary film called Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus - a film that came about through an almost impossibly serendipitous encounter between filmmaker Eva Aridjis Fuentes and her mysterious subject. The documentary is available on Vimeo and you should absolutely check it out for yourself, alongside the Sacred Bones compilation of her previously unreleased works.

Please note that this story deals with some heavy themes and doesn't have the resolution we might hope for, but it's an important and deeply affecting tale that deserves to be told.

Highlights: 00:32 Discussing Q Lazarus and 'Goodbye Horses' 02:30 The Mystery Behind Q Lazarus 03:19 Q Lazarus's Musical Journey 05:36 The Impact of 'Goodbye Horses' 07:19 The Search for Q Lazarus 12:01 Eva Aridjis Fuentes and the Documentary 17:58 Q Lazarus's Early Life and Career 30:37 The Duality of Q Lazarus and Diane Luckey 31:36 The Role of Luck in Diane's Life 32:52 Career Setbacks and Personal Struggles 34:00 Heartbreak and Disillusionment 34:57 Descent into Darkness 38:10 A Glimmer of Hope: Motherhood and Redemption 39:47 The Unreleased Works and Legacy 42:12 The Battle for Royalties 44:17 The Impact of Goodbye Horses 53:16 The Unfulfilled Potential and Legacy Tours 57:31 Final Thoughts and Reflections

Everyone knows Hulk Hogan's entrance music, but how many know the fascinating story behind Rick Derringer's "Real American"? With the recent passing of Hulk Hogan, we thought we’d revisit a previous episode and update it with new information. Oh, and also to film the whole dang thing as we weren’t doing that back then.

So, this week we’re exploring the unlikely journey of a song that became one of wrestling's most iconic themes, examining its cultural impact, political appropriation, and the complex legacy of both its creator and, in some ways, Hulk Hogan too.

From Rick Derringer's impressive musical pedigree (The McCoys, collaborations with Steely Dan, producing Weird Al) to the song's evolution from US Express theme to Hogan's signature tune, we unpack how a piece of 1980s excess became a cultural touchstone - and political football.

We also talk about Rick Derringer's extensive musical career and connections, the origins and evolution of "Real American"; WWE's "Rock and Wrestling Connection" era in the mid to late 80s; the song's political appropriation across decades; Hulk Hogan's controversial legacy and recent passing; the music video's gloriously over-the-top 80s aesthetic and more.

Let’s fight for the right of every man. Or everyone, depending on the version you prefer.

Episode Highlights

00:00 - Introduction and Hulk Hogan's recent cultural relevance
01:30 - Rick Derringer's impressive musical CV and career highlights
03:00 - The creation story: "The most patriotic song of all time"
05:30 - Wrestling music history and the Rock and Wrestling Connection
12:00 - How "Real American" became Hogan's theme (it wasn't originally!)
15:00 - Hulk Hogan's controversial legacy and recent scandals
18:00 - The Wrestling Album and WWE's musical ambitions
22:30 - The song's political life and cultural appropriation
28:00 - Iron Sheik's legendary Twitter feuds with Hogan
31:40 - Rick Derringer's own political evolution and re-recording
36:30 - The gloriously cheesy music video breakdown
41:00 - Why this song represents the 1980s perfectly
44:00 - Final thoughts on Hogan's impact and the song's enduring legacy