Spotify Premium users are getting ads, and they’re not happy about it

Spotify Premium is supposed to be an ad-free haven for music lovers, but something’s off. Users have taken to forums, social media, and Spotify’s own Community page to vent about a rather unwelcome guest in their playlists — ads.

Yep. Some Spotify Premium subscribers — who pay for an ad-free experience — are reporting that their music sessions are being rudely interrupted by ads. And no, this isn’t some sneaky free-tier trickery. These are fully paid-up users, and understandably, they’re not thrilled about getting a taste of what they specifically pay to avoid.

Spotify has officially acknowledged the issue, confirming that their tech team is on the case. In a statement on their Community forums, the company admitted to receiving reports of Premium users hearing ads and is actively investigating the situation.

To help them get to the bottom of this, Spotify is asking affected users to provide details like:

• The device’s make, model, and OS version
• The Spotify app version or whether they’re using the Web Player
• The type of ad they encountered
• Any troubleshooting attempts they’ve made (like logging out, clearing cache, reinstalling, etc.)
• Bonus: A video clip of the ad appearing in action (because seeing is believing)

They also suggested that users subscribe to their forum thread for updates — though some would argue they’d rather just have their uninterrupted music back.

Spotify hasn’t disclosed the cause yet, but there are a few possibilities. It could be a bug messing with account authentication, a backend hiccup, or, worst-case scenario, a technical mishap that’s incorrectly categorizing Premium users as free-tier listeners. Whatever the issue, Premium subscribers aren’t paying to play “Guess That Ad” during their jam sessions.

Spotify has promised to keep users updated as they work on a fix. In the meantime, if you’re a Premium subscriber dealing with this ad invasion, you might want to report your experience to Spotify’s support channels.

Hopefully, Spotify sorts this out soon — because nothing kills the mood faster than an ad popping up in the middle of your favorite playlist or podcast.

Stay tuned for updates.