Spotify playing ads for paid subscribers

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Incident: Ads for Paid Spotify Users

  • Some paid subscribers reported hearing ads and seeing “upgrade” prompts.
  • Others saw the issue appear briefly, then disappear after an app refresh.

Bug vs Intentional Change

  • Several commenters argued this was almost certainly a bug or misconfiguration, not a deliberate rollout, given lack of announcement and obvious backlash risk.
  • A Spotify community thread labeled it an ongoing issue and later confirmed it was a bug.
  • Some note that bugs can be indistinguishable from aggressive A/B tests, feeding suspicion.

Moderation and Communication

  • Reports that the main Spotify subreddit was removing posts about the issue, which many saw as bad form.
  • Subreddit description says it’s for playlist-sharing, not support; others suggested an alternate subreddit where the issue was actively discussed.

User Reactions and Cancellations

  • Multiple users canceled or said they would immediately cancel if ads for paid tiers became standard.
  • Some had already left over earlier annoyances: podcast ads for subscribers, “commercially promoted” songs in radios, silent app updates, and content removals.

Alternatives and Self‑Hosting

  • Many described switching to:
    • YouTube Premium/Music, Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, Pandora.
    • Local libraries with FLAC/MP3 on NAS or DAPs.
    • Self‑hosted servers (Jellyfin, Navidrome, Gonic + Subsonic clients).
  • Tools like SongShift were cited as reducing lock‑in by migrating playlists between services.

Ads, Business Models, and “Enshittification”

  • Comparisons to newspapers, cable TV, and streaming video: paying yet still seeing ads.
  • Some see ad‑free subscriptions as a brief historical aberration now being reversed.
  • Others stress audio ads are far more intrusive than print or on‑screen ads.

UX, Quality, and AI Coding

  • Split views: some praise Spotify’s stability and recommendations; others call the UI confusing and bug‑ridden.
  • Specific complaints: queue management, shuffle behavior on other services, YouTube’s mixing of music and videos.
  • A linked article claims Spotify’s “best developers” no longer write code due to AI; some blame “vibecoding” culture and metric‑driven management.

Artist Pay and Ethics

  • Debate over whether Spotify or labels are mainly responsible for poor artist payouts.
  • Some condemn Spotify for platforming controversial figures and pushing AI‑generated tracks.
  • Others generalize criticism to all streaming services and promote buying music, merch, or using Bandcamp, plus occasional advocacy of piracy.