It’s not infrequent that Spotify makes changes to its offerings and pricing structures, and some users are concerned that a particularly unfavorable shift could be on the way.
On X (formerly Twitter), one user wrote, “I’ve just heard that apparently Spotify is going to put ads into premium. I’ve had Premium for about 10 years and I tell you this, the SECOND I hear an ad on my Premium account I’m cancelling my subscription. The SECOND. I’m out.” Another tweeted, “Hey @Spotify just so you know, if you guys *rumoured* decide to start putting ads on Spotify premium and add a new premium plus type subscription to get rid of the ads, I will cancel my subscription indefinitely and so will many many others. Probably shouldn’t FAFO.”
In response to both users, Spotify wrote, “This rumor is false. Premium music listening is ad-free.”
This follows some premium users reporting that they’ve heard ads while streaming despite their account status. In February, Spotify addressed the issue, writing, “Thanks for your patience while we looked into this issue. This should now be fixed. If you’re still having issues, remember to log out of the app and back in again 2-3 times in a row in order to force a resync.”
In 2022, a Spotify representative also noted in response to a premium user reporting ads, “While Spotify doesn’t play ads that interrupt the music listening experience of Premium subscribers, some podcasts may include advertising, host-read endorsements, or sponsorship messages. Creators can choose to include dynamic ads into their episodes with Spotify as the receiving end of content and functioning as an ‘open stage’ streaming platform for all.”
