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[Bru6]

I'm paying for premium Spotify. 

So I don't want **bleep**ing adds randomly playing while I'm listening to podcasts. 

[user-removed]

Hi Bru6,

There seems to be a lot of confusion about Spotify ads so even though your post is from a while back, I thought I’d shoot you a response. 

Spotify only includes ads on podcasts, never music. Further, these ads are only inserted onto two types of podcasts:

• “Exclusive” podcasts (these are usually podcasts owned by another company and Spotify has to pay that company to offer it on Spotify- for example Amazon owns the rights to my favorite podcast, SmartLess, therefore it has ads)
• Podcasts that Spotify produces themselves

Here is a link that explains their policies

• https://www.spotify.com/us/premium/#plans

I can understand why users would be frustrated by this, and it mostly has to do with the way it was rolled out. It was opaque and probably came as a surprise. I get it.

Here’s how I look at it: In my opinion having used several streaming platforms, Spotify is the best, at least for me, by a big measure. Even though I pay $10/month for Premium, I can live with some of the podcasts I listen to containing ads. The internet is dependent on ad revenue, and while some competing services don’t include ads, they compensate for it in other ways, which (again in my opinion), degrades their service. I predict that within a couple years all streaming platforms will include ads in some form on all tiers of their service, or their subscription fees will be raised dramatically.

These are just my thoughts- hopefully it’s helpful in some way.

Best to you and happy 2023.

[vaajy]

I hope they can one day made Podcasts app and let the main app for music only.

Podcasts not everyone uses and you need to make app simple.

[user-removed]

Hey vaayj,

Who knows what will happen. 

Around 85% of Spotify’s current revenue comes from Premium subscriptions. Their free tier generates minimal revenue via ads, so the strategy has historically been to incentivize free users to upgrade.

Clearly they see potential in increasing revenue through ads, and if I were to make a guess, they haven’t figured it out yet and they are testing things out, probably to keep their investors happy as well.

I might be naive, but I think that Spotify has good intentions for their users, the artists featured on their platform, their advertising partners, and the influence their services have on the lives of millions of people around the world.

All that said, I understand your approach and viewpoint. I think it’s healthy to be honest about how you feel about this, and for the record I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that you chose to voice your opinion respectfully.

In the end, if their users are unhappy, that means their service needs to change and adapt. 

Best to you