Advertisement volume louder than music?

[FF2DaDerp]

Okay, so, I did a see thing saying this was "solved", but, I'm really not sure about that.

Maybe it's just me but the volume that the ads play at (all of them, by the way! It's not just one or two specific ones) is WAY louder than the music.

Just now, for example, I was listening to a movie soundtrack, all the music is the same volume, and I have it at my perfect volume and then when I went to the next song I got an ad for some album and it was like 5x louder than my music was. 

My volume was NOT up too loud, and if anything it was a perfectly normal volume. The one I have it at all the time, and yet this ad made it feel like I went from volume level 12 (what my laptops volume was on), to volume level 30!! And the ad after that one was even louder!!

This is an issue I've been having over and over again (and no, I'm not just gonna buy premium to "fix it"), and I've heard of some other people having it, too. And for me? This is seriously an issue, considering my hearing is sensitive AND I have sensory issues when it comes to loud noise (it's SO overwhelming and that plus sensitive hearing is a NASTY combination). I don't want to get overwhelmed all because I felt like listening to music, y'know?

I also tried to see if there was a setting for controlling ad volumes, but I can't find one either...

Anyways, I kind of started rambling there, but is there a way to get this fixed or something? It's a pain to deal with.

[A_Musicophile]

Hi there @FF2DaDerp,

I'm not offering a solution here but I suppose that the nature of an advert is to be attention-grabbing and the ads are probably deliberately made louder than the music itself. I know how annoying it was when I had a free Spotify account. I guess for me, it was a good trade-off switching to a premium account to prevent the intrusion of adverts. For the time being, I'd probably just whack the volume way down when an ad plays. 

Best wishes,

A

[DJ_Kweku]

Check out the FCC's rules about volume control in advertising, legally required to keep volume regulated to the medium being used.  They can cause hearing lose to people using this tatic to get you to purchase their premium content.  Should come with a warning before an Ad plays about hearing loss. 

https://www.fcc.gov/media/policy/loud-commercials

Note: I came accross that reply in another post regarding your issue.

[HipsterElf]

I regularly experience the same problem. Loud noise can trigger migraines for me, so I'm always monitoring the volume of my music. I work in an open office environment and use headphones for focusing with music. In and of themselves, I don't mind ads at an appropriate volume level; I do think it's wrong to have the ad volume louder than what my settings indicate the volume level should be.

I know for a fact that the ads are louder than the music because of how I control my volume. I turn Spotify's volume on high and then use my laptop volume settings to adjust it down to a comfortable level. (This was suggested in an older thread as a solution to the same problem.) Just this morning at work I was listening to Spotify at a normal level. (My laptop warns me when I increase the volume to a dangerous level, and I was below that.) I had my headphones in. One song ended and an ad came on. It was so loud that I jumped in my chair and immediately yanked my headphones out of my ears. This isn't the first time I have done this. (I've tested different headphones and no headphones with the same problem.) I will say that while all commercials are consistently louder than the music, Spotify's ads specifically are the loudest and worst when it comes to volume.

The FCC page linked above specifically mentions the regulation of TV ads only. I'm going to do additional research on regulations for streaming services, but I don't know of anything in place at this time. Maybe someone else does? In the meantime, we can only appeal to Spotify on the basis of customer care. I am LESS likely to buy Spotify premium if I believe that Spotify doesn't value their audience, and the volume of their ads tells me plainly that they don't.

[painfield]

Hey A_Musicophile, to say that better not say anything. Thanks.

[cormaco]

Hi, just ran into this problem tonight after swapping my headset for new earbuds. Felt literal discomfort at the volume level of some (not all) the ads that played. I thought to myself "this can't be possible", but lo and behold, I googled it and here we are.

Apparently it's a widespread problem, one that has existed for at least 8 years based on my quick search. I think it's vile. There is a difference between annoying advertising, and advertising that is physically intrusive, and perhaps harmful to some. It's not like it's even needed, I already listen to the ads, they don't need to be blasted at me.

There is no use complaining about this on the community pages. I urge you to contact people higher up by asking for their details, like I have just done. It might lead nowhere but it's better than doing nothing.

[painfield]

I agree it's not more useful to blast the ads for the ads sake but maybe more people subscribe that way. I guess contacting the advertisers would be more useful, snitching. In the end the higher ups in Spotify are the ones making the decision to keep it like this and that's the only way they'd take notice, Youtube is an example.
But it should be big enough that it hurts in ads more than what they gain in subscribers, that means a lot of work. I guess that's why it's been like this for 8 years. Personally I'll die in another hill, search for an alternative for now and use spotify again once I can become a subscriber.
Another take is search for software to lower the volume during the ads but I haven't found anything reliable, I'm open to suggestions.

TLDR: Volume is high, doesn't seem it's going to change, best option is to change service until you can subscribe.

[cormaco]

Well, they just got back to me (super quick) and said that no, they don't let advertisers set their own volume. They also, in the same e-mail, proposed that I get premium. Ha. It cannot be true though, I would not be here discussing this on a forum if I was not sure that the ads were louder.

I will do some more digging into the likelihood of advertisers setting their own volume, and then I will contact Wired and Techcrunch. Maybe a bored writer will think it's an interesting story, especially because it's another example of business malpractice that disproportionately affects people who cannot afford a subscription.

While I can afford a subscription, why should those who cannot be made to sit through blaring ads because of a business model, that as the customer feedback e-mail confirms, is about getting people to migrate to premium.

The volume is a rather minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of life, but it's a question of principle. You can't harass people into buying your product, especially when a large part of their subscribers would probably struggle to afford it.

[sjspilman]

The real reason Platforms like Spotify and Broadcasters can skirt around this issue is that it's not actually a question of Objective Volume but of Dynamic Range.

Consider, for example, how different radio stations sound subjectively... In the UK.. Radio 1 is a Pop station, it has a very small Dynamic Range (the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds) and thus sounds a great deal louder than Radio 4 for example, which is largely a News and Current Affairs Station and has a wider Dynamic Range.

The Loudest sounds are still theoretically the same but the Dynamic Range compression Applied to the output of Radio 1 makes it sound Punchier and Less sedate. The same is done with Ads... they don't actually break the rules in terms of Maximum Volume but the effect of ruthlessly compressing is still that it makes it appear louder and certainly more clattery and fatiguing for sure.

[mu-ng7_5bidc8]

The problem with regulations is when companies use technicalities to skirt them like Spotify clearly is doing with making their ads a good 20-30 dB higher than the music being played. I'll never pay for premium again and have already begun playing music from my own collection again. No issues, may try Apple Music and see if they do it too. I'd imagine they do. Guess its time to retake control of our media. Spotify isnt convenient if they have to manipulate you into paying for their service. I think the saddest part is there are people in the comments defending the logic of blaring the volume up during ads. You cant do that on broadcast TV and those rules were put in place when it was the dominant form of entertainment, when broadcast TV was what streaming is today. The same regulations should apply.

[AnD7801]

Some ads are at the double volume loudness compared to the music! So i can't play music at loud volume or the speakers will break when a ad comes on. On web player. On Linux player there's not the problem.

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. 

It would be great if you can let us know the following information:

• Your Country: 
• Device the issue occurred on (iPhone 8+, Samsung Galaxy S10...):
• Operating system (IOS, Android, Windows...):

• Version of the Spotify App (Please specify the exact version and do not write "the latest/most recent"):

• Is it a visual or audio ad?:

• Name/content of ad:

• Rough time/date you heard the advert:

Once we have the information above we'll pass it on to the right team so that they can have a closer look into this.

Keep us posted.

Cheers!

[#13]

After the recent update, the commercials (Spotify Finland) are on a way too loud. Especially when listening with headphones it feels like my eardrums will bleed when a commercial comes on.

[elise_____]

taiwan

acer spin 5

Windows

適用 Windows 的 Spotify
1.1.89.862.g94554d24

音頻廣告

科學麵

2022/7/15-今天

[Alex]

Hi there @elise_____,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community.

We've sent this info to the appropriate teams at Spotify, who'll look into it.

Cheers.

[iobertu]

Italy

PC desktop

Windows 10 Pro

Spotify per Windows
1.1.97.962.g24733a46

Audio ad

"Carrefour" and "Novanight"

all along the day from 3 months

[Dian]

Hey @iobertu,

Thanks for the reply.

We've relayed the information to the right team for review.

Cheers!

[iobertu]

• Your Country: Italy
• Device the issue occurred on: PC
• Operating system: Windows 10 Pro

• Version of the Spotify App: Spotify per Windows (32 bit)
  1.2.13.661.ga588f749

• Is it a visual or audio ad?: audio

• Name/content of ad: Invitalia Spa, Selex

• Rough time/date you heard the advert: 10/06/2023 more time in the afternoon

[Joan]

Hi @iobertu,

Thanks for this submission. We've forwarded this information to the appropriate team.

Cheers!

[iobertu]

• Your Country: Italy
• Device the issue occurred on: PC
• Operating system: Windows 10 Pro

• Version of the Spotify App: 1.2.14.1149.ga3ae422d

• Is it a visual or audio ad?: audio

• Name/content of ad: 'Parmacotto', 'La Piadineria'

• Rough time/date you heard the advert: for about a month all along the day (the last at 11:38 of 07/07/2023)