Adds playing with premium

Nutmeg3 — Tue, 19 May 2026 16:05:36 GMT

When I’m listening to podcasts they are being paused to play random adds eg. McDonald’s they are not part of the podcast they are not podcast sponsors

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

(iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy 9, Macbook Pro late 2016)

Operating System

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

Re: Adds playing with premium

JBayudz — Wed, 20 May 2026 01:02:05 GMT

Hey there, @Nutmeg3

Thanks for reaching out.

I get why that feels confusing, especially when you're paying for the Premium plan.

Premium gives you ad-free music, but podcasts work a bit differently. Audio podcasts can still include ads, and those may not always sound like part of the episode or a host-read sponsorship. They can be inserted around podcast playback depending on the show and region.

Ads Based on Subscription Tier

The types of ads you may receive vary based on your subscription tier:

Premium Subscribers:
- Will enjoy video podcasts without Spotify ads, but may experience creator sponsorships.
- May receive both Spotify ads and creator sponsorships on audio podcasts.
Free Tier Listeners:
- May receive both Spotify ads and creator sponsorships on video podcasts.
- May receive both Spotify ads and creator sponsorships on audio podcasts.

Source: https://support.spotify.com/article/podcasts-and-shows/

Since you mentioned this is happening during podcasts specifically, it may be expected behavior rather than an issue with your Premium plan.

A couple of things worth checking:

Does this happen only with podcasts, or also when playing music?
Is it happening on all podcasts or only certain shows?
Are you listening to an audio podcast or a video podcast?
Does your account page still show Premium as active?

If ads are playing during music too, that would not be expected on Premium and you should try logging out and back in twice, then restarting the app. Hopefully it's only the podcast ad behavior, but let us know what you find.

topic Adds playing with premium in Subscriptions

Adds playing with premium

Re: Adds playing with premium