Announcements

Help Wizard

Step 1

NEXT STEP

FAQs

Please see below the most popular frequently asked questions.

Loading article...

Loading faqs...

VIEW ALL

Ongoing Issues

Please see below the current ongoing issues which are under investigation.

Loading issue...

Loading ongoing issues...

VIEW ALL

[All Platforms] No Ads in Podcasts for Spotify Premium users

I pay for my subscription. Every month for years now. The main reason I am a paid-for subscriber with Spotify is so I don't have to hear ads. As I have shifted my podcast listening from other providers to Spotify to bypass ads, both from the platform as well as integrated into the content.

 

I expect not to hear ads on Spotify. I understand there are ads woven into the actual content of the podcast itself, but for as big of a company and the amount of leverage Spotify has, I expect to not hear ads so long as I am paying for the service.

 

I reached out to Spotify and got this lazy, generic answer from Joy in Spotify Customer Support: “if you're hearing ads on podcasts using this Premium account. It's possible that the podcaster integrated that ads to their podcast content”. Thanks for breaking your back on that response.

 

I KNOW what the ads I’m hearing are. And I understand they can’t ask podcasters to export two versions, one with integrated ads and one without. What I expect from Spotify is to either implement metadata that tags the beginning and ending of ad segments and bypass them for us, Premium subscribers, or require podcasters to give metadata timecodes that Spotify can identify to bypass them AUTOMATICALLY.

 

Just to be clear, even if these identifiers are put into the content, I don’t want to have to pull my phone out to hit any sort of “skip ads” button. This is literally the ONLY reason users have Premium. So get rid of the ads. It’s actually very simple. And let’s not get started on how archaic it is to continually hit the “15sec forward” button to bypass the ads, first over shooting, then undershooting the duration of the integrated ad, only to have to make peace with hearing the last ten seconds of the ad. At that point it’s not servicing either party in the transaction.

 

It’s 2020. You are a huge company with a lot of leverage and a huge developer budget. I honestly can’t believe I’m even having to write this suggestion.

 

tl:dr - Spotify, I am a Premium member. You made a promise to me that if I became a Premium member, I wouldn’t hear ads. I’m hearing ads on podcasts. Integrated or not, I don’t care. You have the technology and power to fix it. So fix it. And make it automatic. It’s 2020.

Updated on 2023-04-15

Hey folks,

The Ideas section provides users with the opportunity to share their opinion on what features and app improvements can be developed, to make Spotify better. This idea however, in it's core fundamentals, requires to change how the Premium subscription works and what opportunities Spotify offers to Podcast creators.

 

As part of the Premium subscription, all music can be enjoyed ad-free. And 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 independently of the streaming platforms featuring such podcasts.

 

Providing a way to circumvent those is not something that our Idea submission process can accomplish.


This doesn't mean that your feedback isn't heard and that this request couldn't be fulfilled by some other means in the future. On the contrary, this is being monitored and we invite everyone to share their opinion in a constructive manner. We will then ensure to pass it on to the relevant teams.

 

Please do note, that we do understand the overall sentiment and if the thread stops being useful as a source to track constructive feedback, we will need to close it for further replies.

 

All the best!

Comments
PaulinaAlicja

I am totally disappointed and disgusted by Spotify now... I thought that these ads were some mistake, but now I know that Spotify thinks that I am stupid. My double subscription will be cancelled because you had two years to resolve the issue and stop false advertisements. I will also contact the local Ombudsmen service due to your misleading advertising practice. Disgusting. 

vj6_-v3lc66eg

The best part is that if you email Spotify about the ad issue they just send back an automated message saying that content creators have their own ads. Right... they have their own ads that they read on their own and now Spotify has decided to throw more ads in on top of it. This started happening to me a few months back and they definitely pick and choose which podcasts they do it to.

 

This is absolutely false advertising.

Waltlojr
Heavyweight is a Spotify-produced Spotify-exclusive podcast and Spotify shamelessly adds a TON of ads even for premium subscribers. So much for empowering “content creators.”
ChrisSzabo

This **bleep**. Your marketing conveyed the understanding that I'll have an ad-free experience if I pay for Spotify Premium, yet here I am, having to listen to several annoying (and externally injected by Spotify, btw; don't try suggesting they aren't) ads during each podcast. And as listening to podcasts is what I mainly do, this is driving me nuts.

markg85

I pay for spotify to NOT HAVE ADS, that includes everything you offer! You even ADVERTISE with taking premium to be ad free. But you never say that podcasts are excluded from that agreement.

 

There's only one solution here that is acceptable. Premium is ad free, period. Fix this, Spotify!

 

Note that this is just one ad annoyances you will still enjoy in premium. You will also get blasted every now and then with new concerts you might like or a "reminder" to play a song again that you liked a year ago. You should make that **bleep** opt-in.

Cacurrie

I was under the impression that paying for a subscription was to filter out unwanted advertising and stop obnoxious solicitation. 
Who thinks advertising in the middle of a podcast is something anybody wants?!

it’s like your child saying mommy?! Daddy?! Mommy?! Daddy?! While you are talking to each other. 
I find this to be so inappropriate. Please, find a better way. It’s so tacky 

DevPhrog

Been premium member since 2012. Add-free felt always bit like ransom, but it was fine for the convenience. The only reason I pay is that I don't have ads during my workday. Please, remove embedded ads off podcasts.

Just because podcasts are new feature, does not make this ok in my book.

Spoohoo7

Ridiculous that this post is from 2020 and the issue persists. It’s understandable that podcasts may contain embedded ads in the podcast itself, but the ads that I’ve been getting are obviously enabled by Spotify - they interrupt the podcast, sometimes mid-word, and have pop ups underneath the podcast once they’re done playing. If the “essence of upgrading to Premium” is to get rid of ads that “interrupt the listening experience for subscribers”, it shouldn’t matter whether you’re listening to music or a podcast. And while Spotify claims they can’t control these ads since they give podcast hosts the choice to include dynamic ad slots, the very fact that Spotify can give hosts a choice in the first place means that they can indeed control whether Premium subscribers get these ads. Especially since again, these ads are not embedded in the podcast, but are enabled by Spotify. Honestly, it’s beyond the pale…

Griiiiii

This is crazy. I have been a happy premium Spotify customer for years. Now I have to listen ads. Remind me, Spotify, for what I’m paying for? Or did you just betray us? Don’t try to explain this with half-truths and lies. Shame on you.

Louisstephen1320

An ad is an ad, and as a user, I pay Spotify not to hear them. Surely this is a breach of contract? I don't particularly have a problem with podcast creators telling us who the sponsor is during the podcast, and I can skim past that if I want to, but I DO have a problem hearing ads from other podcasters at the start and during a podcast I'm choosing to listen to, by other creators, who are producing podcasts I have absolutely no interest in, and plugging THEIR sponsors. Peter Crouch, Lenny Henry and Richard Herring to name but three. All seem to want to tell me about some financial app that will make my life easier and how great an exercise bike brand is and how I can get one on offer. It's incredibly irritating and not what I want from my podcast platform. Do other users know if this is a problem on Amazon and Apple? I'm seriously thinking about migrating there.