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Spotify Original podcast ads with premium

Spotify Original podcast ads with premium

I am listening to The Besties podcast, a Spotify original, on my premium account on both my phone and my computer. In the past, I have been able to start listening to the podcast with no ads before the opening. In the middle, they say "we'll take a break", and have an ad break. Previously there would be no ad, and it would go straight back into the hosts talking, which I assumed was because I have Spotify premium, and I know that this podcast can be listened to for free. However, the past week or two, there have been ads both at the beginning of the podcast and in the middle. Well, it's one ad, for SquareSpace, which is incredibly loud and feature's a woman's high pitched and very annoying in general voice. It is over 30 seconds and hard to skip every part of it, and it legitimately hurts my ears and makes me incredibly uncomfortable, due to my neurological hypersensitivity to audio. Suffice to say I will never be using SquareSpace. Am I wrong in thinking that because I pay for Spotify premium that I should not have to listen to this ad? Is this a glitch? Should I stop listening to this podcast and only listen to podcasts that I burn onto a CD and play in a portable CD player, or record onto a cassette so I can listen to them on a Walkman?

 

And honestly, if I have to listen to it, can it at least be in a voice that is easy to listen to, perhaps one similar register to the hosts of the show, which I have chosen to listen to because their voices do not drive me crazy, so it's not so jarring?

 

I apologize if I sound hostile. I despise advertising (why I pay for premium) and certain sounds/tonal frequencies like the ones in this ad I am talking about can severely negatively impact my mood.

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31 Replies

So I have been a premium customer for Spotify for several years now.  The first thought I had in my mind was that specific podcast was having advertisements of their own.  There really isn't anything you could do if that were the case but at least you can always fast forward thirty seconds or however long their advertisements are. 

 

If it's an ad from Spotify than it should mean you have a basic prescription.  To check what you have go to "MENU" which is the button (Looks like a check mark) to the right of your profile name which is underlined in your Spotify player on a computer.  Once you sign into your account, scroll down until you see "Your Plan"

 

If it says you have premium then you should not get any Spotify ads.  I listened to two of that podcasts most recent episodes and they did not have any ads for me.  I have a family plan for Spotify and it is current and paid so I shouldn't get any.

 

My suggestion for you is to delete the app on your phone or computer.  Restart your device and then try downloading the app again.  See if that fixes the issue.  You should also check to make sure the app is updated.

 

Hopefully that works, but if not I would then try and contact Spotify via this link

"Spotify Support"

 

Hope this helps! Please let me know the status of your situation.  Also, for the time being, I would lower the volume of the podcast during the advertisements and play it only via a speaker, NOT your headphones

 

https://open.spotify.com:spotify:user:peppaface2?si=y6yRUyHoR92Mzy6IcxQVGA

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your response. My account does say that it is Premium. I listen to ads that are built in to a normal podcast but since this is a Spotify Original I assumed that due to my premium membership I would not have to listen to the ads. I subscribe to many of my favorite podcasts on Patreon and get them ad-free since I am paying the creators, and I hoped that listening to a Spotify Original podcast on Spotify Premium I would be supporting the podcast creators and therefore not have to listen to ads; I don't hear ads when I'm listening to music. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app and they are still there. I guess I will have to contact Support to see if this is a bug or a feature.

The fact that I do not see those ads is why I think contacting Spotify support is the best option to take at this point.  I hope it works out for you!  Again, once the issue is resolved please put down what was the reason so others can learn how to further help others.

 

https://open.spotify.com:spotify:user:peppaface2?si=wxYZ4lPTR4CdH5aPlm0amA

Hey @FiveLeafClover!

 

Thanks for reaching out about this.

 

We'll gladly explain a bit more about the matter. While the Spotify app doesn’t play ads that interrupt the music listening experience of Premium subscribers, some podcasts on the platform may include third-party advertising, host-read endorsements or sponsorship messages in their episodes.

 

We're always striving to improve our users' experience and we appreciate your feedback on this. 

 

If you'd like you can go ahead and create an idea about this on the relevant idea board. Here you can read more on how ideas work.

 

We also suggest checking this help article for useful tips on how to submit an idea.

 

We hope this info helps. We're always here if you have any other questions.

ElenaModerator
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This is complete**bleep**. You pay for premium so there is no advertising there should be no advertising period. Why am I paying for advertising!? This is completely unacceptable.

I agree w/ commenter below - this is a bait and switch, possibly illegal considering we all signed up for an ad-free experience when we subscribed to premium membership.

I don't think this addresses the concern. I have the same issue. We are not talking about normal podcast ads that are embedded into the episode itself. Those I understand because they are not made by you. For those, I can usually just skip forward 15 seconds multiple times until it is done.

 

What I have an issue with (an I believe the others do to) are the podcasts made by Spotify. I listen a few from the former Gimlet like "Science Vs" and "The Pitch" that now have ads that are not embedded into podcast itself. The player stops the podcast, and then an ad comes up on the screen and plays. These cannot be skipped or forwarded 15 seconds like the other ones can.

 

As a premium subscriber, I pay to not have the same type of ads in between songs.I feel like we should not have those type of ads on podcasts either. 

Hey @ajsheldon93,

 

Thank you for reaching out about this.

 

In this case it would be great if you could do a screen recording of this. It will help us understand more what's going on directly from your side.

 

Keep us posted. We're always one reply away.

 

Cheers! 

  1. I am having an issue with this too. This screenshot shows an advertisement in the que that appears when I listen to certain podcasts. Considering I am paying for Spotify Premium and have been for years, I find this unacceptable. I am paying for NO ads, not less ads. For the first time in years I am considering finding an alternative streaming service. If I am not getting exactly what I'm paying for, why should I bother paying for it at all?

Screenshot_20201006-011422_Spotify.jpg

Hey there @Striider,

 

Thank you for your post and screenshot. It looks like the hosts of this podcasts are using our Streaming Ad Insertion option.

 

We suggest you to head over here to an article that gives more detailed explanation about this.

 

If you have any further questions, we're always one reply away We're happy to help 🙂

 

Cheers!

ElenaModerator
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This seems to be what we are seeing, but as Premium Subscribers, we don't think we should get any Steaming Ad Insertion ads. That is why we are paying for premium. To not get any ads that are inserted like that through Spotifys control.

How do you think it's acceptable to allow this for premium members when we specifically pay for an AD FREE listening experience

The frivolity in your reply is highly unprofessional as well

Hey all! Hopefully you all see this. Please vote here to help us fix it! This idea has been posted hundreds of times and yet Spotify keeps marking it as inactive every year and we all have to revote.
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/All-Platforms-No-Ads-in-Podcasts-for-Spotify-Premium-use...

I'm also seeing this.  It is clear that the spotify app *knows* that the ad is different from the podcast because the ad has its own progress bar that starts and ends with the ad. Since the podcast is a spotify original I imagine they are just using a different ad delivery mechanism but as a premium member I am specifically paying for spotify to opt me out of their ad delivery. 

 

These ads are not the same as the ads on a normal, non-spotify original, podcast.  The app treats them specially instead of being an easily skippable part of the podcast.  If I'm listening in the car the app doesn't even acknowledge my fastforward button while these ads are playing.

Hey there folks,

 

Thank you for your posts and feedback.

 

You can read more about how your feedback reach Spotify here.

 

If you have any questions we're always one reply away. 

 

Take care!

JeremyModerator
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This is not helpful, nor correct.  People are not proposing "Ideas" here. These are legitimate complaints against a deceitful business practice. We are Paying for "No Ads" and receiving Ads.  It is a simple and awful problem. 

 

Side-note, this type of possibly bot-like "Moderator" behavior is clearly highlighting the problem further.   

Just wanted to say I also started getting this issue recently been paying for spotifiy premium family for years now I pay so I dont get forced, 20-40 sec long, loud, unskippable ads, that come one after another by spotify. I dont mind listening to a sponser or ad made by the creator inside the podcast but not forced unskippable ads that stop the podcast from spotify.

I just started listening the the Renegades: Born In The USA podcast this morning and guess what, the first thing I hear is an ad.  I immediately removed it from my library.  I complained about podcasts and ads in the past to no avail but I thought I'd chime in here seeing as I also don't think there should be ads in a Podcast HOSTED by Spotify for us premium members!!  Just another reason I will be cancelling after my 3 month for 10 bucks is up.

I've been listening to the Spotify podcast The Get Up daily for about a year now, it's been a routine that I enjoy. However, this morning I got hit for the first time ever with about a minute of consecutive advertisements. Has Spotify's policy changed on Spotify-produced podcasts and ads for premium members? Can Spotify please confirm that The Get Up morning show now features advertisements? This is a most unwelcome change and between this and my other recent posts on here about complaints about my subscription, I'm one issue away from dropping my subscription because very little has been "premium". I only subscribed to Premium to play Spotify more easily in my Tesla, but it's less worth it each day. Anyways, Spotify can you please confirm that a recent change has introduced ads in The Get Up for premium users? Again, today (10/7/21) was the first time I've ever had the ads. At least ease me into it... but I just had 3 ads in a row (about 2 minutes total time of ads, not skippable. really?)

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