Premium account and still gets ads in podcasts

[Vonplaf]

I have a premium account and when I start some podcasts I get ads in my national language "Danish" but the Podcast is in English and after the ads that Spotify have put into the start of the podcast I also have to listen to about 1-1½ min of ads from the podcast company.
STOP this Spotify, I pay for not hearing ads and you still stuff them into the podcasts.

Plan

Premium

Country

Denmark

Device

OnePlus 7 Pro

Operating System

Android 10

[newchick23]

Why are you blaming the customer? if you sign a contract that states that in exchange for paying $9.99 a month, you will receive ad-free content, you shouldn't have to be subjected to ads Or skip through them. Spotify should be paying the podcasters so they don't have rely on ads for revenue for these customers. in essence Spotify is "double dipping"

Change the contract or stop lying to customers, Spotify. Either way, we want our money back!

Spotify = unethical business practices and fraud. 

[newchick23]

Who is taking the lead? I'm in

[Canadianmilk]

I have been having ads that ARE seperate from the podcast. They have their own clips, and it even says "advertisement from ---". These are not embedded into the show, they are seperate. I had three seperate advertisements that played before my show started. I pay for premium, and I have for years.

What gives?

[Vonplaf]

SPOTIFY!!!
So as you can see there are still more and more people having this problem, a problem that Spotify needs to FIX NOW!!

[Climbdamount]

This is blatently incorrect. Spotify is adding ads (injected ads not ads the podcaster records themself) in premium user podcast playthroughs. Please either correct this or stop falsly advertizing that premium removes ads.

[Soonerprid3]

We are all talking about the ones that a) are on spotify original content aka who is already getting paid by our subscription b) ads that can't be skipped. Just because you don't agree or whatever doesn't make us wrong or that we are whining. 

[celextial]

Honestly, this is just completely unacceptable. If you can't pay your content creators because you priced your product wrong (or don't provide enough value for a higher price) and therefore have to pass the problem down to the consumer to deal with, then your business model sucks and you deserve to fail. Anyway, I've switched to Apple Music in light of discovering this myself.

[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.”

[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.

[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. 

[barkinginsanity]

Sadly, there's this article by the Hollywood reporter from June this year where their CFO, Paul Vogel, is reported saying that "he expects the podcast segment to become profitable in the next “one to two years” 

I think it's safe to assume this thread is showing how exactly Spotify are planning to achieve that goal…

I can only urge everyone who can't switch to a different platform to get themselves family accounts with friends and try to pay as little as possible, if you really can't switch.

And as somebody else mentioned, take action in your region, submit complaints! This is a company hiring everywhere on Earth, I am not sure if I'm right but I think this means they have to have branches/subsidiaries in any country with more than 10 employees. So the local authorities might be able to help more than you know. 

Last but not least, switch to a different platform, if you can. Vote with your hard-earned money! 

[Elftok]

This situation is still in place and very annoying. I am annoyed that my favourite podcast "the rest is politics" has so many ads. It is nearly enough for me to stop listening. There must be something done for premium members. I do not want to listen to my podcasts elsewhere to stop this.  This really needs attention. 

[Keizerspeed]

Jeremy, appreciate you responding, but this strange.  In my Tesla, when I use the car's Spotify app, it removes all ads from the podcast.  But when I listen on the iPhone or iPad, the ads are there.  Clearly there's something else going on that can be done to remove the ads from premium subscriptions.

[Stefania74]

Hello everyone! I hope someone could help me!

I have a premium account (Family) and meanwhile I work I love to listen podcast in my language(Italian) but I live in Canada/BC.

Lately I'm experiencing vocal advertising (it never happened before) ..and are so annoying and  makes me mad (Scotia bank, Amazon, ecc....)

I think it's not fair because we pay in order to listen without interruptions.

I have a Mac and I tried to install a VPN..but nothing there are still advertising 2/3 times in a podcast..

Do you have any advice ?

Thank you so much in advance 

[Nico]

Hey @Stefania74! 

That doesn't sound cool.

Spotify doesn’t play or include ads that interrupt the music listening experience of Premium subscribers. However, some podcast creators may include third-party advertising, host-read endorsements, or sponsorship messages in their episodes.

Are these ads coming from Spotify or the podcaster?

Let me know how it goes! ^^

Peace

[Stefania74]

Thank you so much Nico. I think the ads coming from Spotify. . I tried to log out/log in, Vpn, ...I'm still listening ads.. I am paying Spotify a monthly free for a no ads experience. I hope to find a solution.