Spotify

Spotify ran recruitment advertisements for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a DHS campaign. Ads reportedly began with language about 'millions of dangerous illegals.' Spotify received $74,000 from DHS for the ads. The company defended the ads as not violating advertising policies. The non-profit Indivisible Project launched a 'Spotify Unwrapped' boycott in response. Spotify stopped running the ads at end of 2025.

In mid-2025, an AI-generated music project called 'Velvet Sundown' accumulated over 1 million streams on Spotify and received a verified artist badge, despite being entirely created by artificial intelligence without human musicians. The case highlighted Spotify's inadequate systems for detecting and labeling AI-generated content, raising concerns about AI music displacing human artists and misleading listeners about the nature of what they're hearing.

In June 2025, Daniel Ek's venture capital firm Prima Materia led a 600-million-euro investment in Helsing, a European defense tech firm developing AI-powered drones and weapons systems. Ek serves as Helsing's chairman. Artists including King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof, and Xiu Xiu removed their music from Spotify in protest. The boycott reignited frustrations over Spotify's royalty model, with artists objecting to streaming revenue indirectly funding weapons development.

In June 2025, a Guardian investigation exposed how AI-powered bot farms were systematically uploading thousands of AI-generated tracks to Spotify and using automated streaming bots to generate fraudulent royalty payments. The investigation found organized operations generating millions of fake streams, diverting royalty money from legitimate artists. Despite Spotify's claims of anti-fraud measures, the investigation showed the platform's detection systems were largely ineffective against sophisticated AI fraud operations.

Spotify USA donated $150,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee and held a celebratory brunch on the eve of Trump's swearing-in. A spokesperson stated the donation aimed to 'continue expanding presence in Washington D.C.' and was 'in line with work we do in capitals around the world to promote our policy issues, regardless of who is in power.'

Harper's Magazine investigation by Liz Pelly revealed Spotify's internal 'Perfect Fit Content' program since 2017, where ~20 songwriters behind 500+ fake 'artists' were seeded onto playlists to reduce royalty costs. Musicians paid one-time fees (~$1,700/track) while signing away rights. Internal Slack messages showed teams tracking PFC growth. Playlists like 'Deep Focus' and 'Ambient Relaxation' were almost entirely PFC. Editors who resisted were replaced.

On April 1, 2024, Spotify implemented a policy requiring tracks to have at least 1,000 streams in the prior 12 months from a minimum number of unique listeners to generate royalties. An estimated 87% of all tracks on Spotify (out of 202 million+) fall below this threshold. Disc Makers CEO Tony van Veen estimated indie musicians lost $46.9 million in royalties in 2024. Spotify argued the policy would deter artificial streaming and redirect ~$1 billion to emerging and professional artists.

Spotify set a target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions with a 50% reduction target from 2020 baseline. In 2024, total carbon emissions decreased to approximately 195 million kg CO2e from 280.7 million kg CO2e in 2023. Spotify also launched the Sounds Right initiative with UN Live and EarthPercent, listing NATURE as an artist on the platform to fuel climate activism.

In early 2024, Spotify implemented a new policy requiring tracks to reach at least 1,000 streams per year before generating any royalty payments. The company framed this as an anti-fraud measure, but independent musicians and advocacy groups criticized it as de-monetizing tens of thousands of small artists while redirecting their royalty share to major labels and top-performing acts. The policy particularly impacts niche genres, emerging artists, and musicians in developing countries.

Spotify provides six months of fully paid parental leave to all parents regardless of gender or sexual orientation, including birth parents, adoptive parents, same-sex couples, and surrogates. Leave can be taken up to the child's third birthday. Nearly 60% of leave-takers are male, reflecting genuine gender equity in uptake. The company also confirmed equal pay and promotion rates across genders for three consecutive years.

Spotify cut 17% of its workforce, approximately 1,500 jobs, in its largest round of layoffs. CEO Daniel Ek attributed the cuts to over-investment during 2020-2021 when capital was cheap. Employees received around five months severance. The layoffs notably eliminated Glenn McDonald, creator of EveryNoise, ending that popular music discovery resource.

In February 2022, CEO Daniel Ek pledged $100 million for a Creator Equity Fund to support content from historically marginalized groups, announced during the Joe Rogan misinformation backlash. By April 2023, Bloomberg reported less than 10% had been spent. The initiative was behind schedule in hiring staff and suffered from shifting priorities.

In January 2022, Neil Young demanded Spotify remove his music over Joe Rogan Experience episodes spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Joni Mitchell and other artists followed. Spotify added content advisories but refused to remove misinformation outright, and removed 70 episodes containing racial slurs. Despite the controversy, Spotify renewed Rogan's deal for up to $250M in February 2024, making it non-exclusive.

Spotify has made ongoing accessibility investments including auto-generated podcast transcripts (launched 2021, expanded since), improved screen reader and VoiceOver support, text resizing options, and enhanced button readability on mobile. The company maintains an internal Accessibility Guild with the mission to create inclusive experiences for all users, and published a public Accessibility Center.