This week, Spotify publicly addressed misinformation circulating about its terms of use.
The response was prompted by videos from creators, such as artist @chantmagick, which accused Spotify of modifying its terms and conditions to permit the transfer of rights to artists’ music to third parties, including partners, affiliates, and tech providers.
Spotify issued a public statement this week, clarifying that these claims are false and reassuring users that these updated terms do not affect the distribution rights of artists, podcasters, creators, and authors regarding their music, shows, and audiobooks.
Instead, these terms apply to listeners. The terms allow Spotify to “display features such as user-created custom playlist covers, user comments on podcasts, and user-created playlist titles,” the company wrote. It’s fairly common for streaming platforms and music services to use user-generated content.
The music streaming giant continues to face significant criticism regarding its treatment of artists, with many alleging that they receive insufficient compensation for their work on the platform. Last year, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Congressman Jamaal Bowman proposed the Living Wage for Musicians Act, which aims to increase streaming royalties to one cent per stream.
Despite these concerns, Spotify asserts that its payments are improving, stating it paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024.