Spotify is among the greatest music streaming apps available on the market, with a whole bunch of tens of millions of customers. As the most well-liked music streaming service, folks like it as a result of, amongst different issues, it has a free plan, an easy-to-use interface, and boasts a large catalog of music. It additionally has various content material, with audiobooks and podcasts that make it greater than only a music streaming service.
Even higher, Spotify is accessible on a ton of platforms, out of your TV to sensible audio system, automobiles, and smartwatches. Spotify has additionally risen to change into one of many go-to streaming providers for audiophiles by launching lossless high quality, permitting its customers to hearken to music at as much as 24-bit / 44.1 kHz high quality at no additional value after years of delay following the preliminary announcement in 2021.
Nevertheless, in addition to its nice options, Spotify is not excellent. It has its downsides that each single person of the music streaming service must learn about. A few of these uncomfortable truths would possibly change the way you view the service, and perhaps even embrace considered one of Spotify’s alternate options.
AI slop is filling the service
Once you’re streaming music on Spotify, you most likely assume that there is a human artist behind the songs. However the reality is, now greater than ever, that is not at all times the case. Regardless of having a large catalog of music with over 100 million tracks, not all the things out there on Spotify is created by an artist. Some songs on the service are generated by synthetic intelligence (AI). In July 2025, for instance, an investigation by The Guardian uncovered a band on Spotify going by the identify Velvet Sunset that used AI to create music. The band has launched two albums in June 2025 and amassed tens of millions of streams.
Spotify pledged to strengthen AI protections on the platform in September 2025 by stronger impersonation guidelines, a music spam filter, and AI disclosures. Regardless of that, you may nonetheless hearken to the band’s music on the platform — and there is not any label indicating that the songs are AI-generated as of this writing. There’s additionally one other artist web page by the identify JD Metal, which does not have an outline on Spotify, but makes use of AI-generated pictures, and produces songs utilizing AI as per their YouTube channel.
The rise in AI-generated tracks on Spotify, amongst different points, has additionally been on the forefront of artist boycotts on the platform that noticed a number of artists pull their music from the service. Whereas Spotify says it has eliminated over 75 million spam tracks from its service, it is clear that there is nonetheless lots to do to guard its customers from AI-generated slop if pages like JD Metal and The Velvet Band are nonetheless up.
It pays artists poorly
Like different music streaming providers, Spotify compensates the folks behind the music when their songs are streamed by its customers. In accordance with the service, anybody who holds rights to a track receives compensation for it no matter whether or not it is performed by a Premium buyer or somebody who makes use of the free ad-supported plan. Funds are usually achieved as soon as a month, and Spotify distributes the web income to artists primarily based on the stream share (the proportion of streams a given artist bought for the month versus the overall throughout the platform).
Due to the way it calculates the payout, the corporate would not pay a set amount of money per stream. But it surely’s not simply Spotify; royalties from music streaming providers are paid primarily based on the stream share. Nevertheless, from these numbers, it is doable to estimate the typical payout per stream. And on common, Spotify has been discovered to be one of many lowest-paying providers per stream in comparison with its friends. A number of estimates place Spotify’s common payout per stream between $0.003 and $0.005.
As an illustration, a report by Duetti discovered that Spotify paid $3 per 1,000 streams in 2024, which averages to about $0.003 per stream. That payout ranked the service fourth on the report behind Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music, which paid $8.8, $6.2, and $4.8 per 1,000 streams, respectively. In different phrases, Apple Music is paying artists twice as a lot as Spotify, which is mind-boggling.
Its algorithmic suggestions are extremely repetitive
One of many issues that Spotify and different music providers have in widespread is AI-powered advice algorithms which might be used to personalize music and spearhead discovery. On Spotify particularly, its editorial playlists are slowly fading within the background because the platform leans extra into AI-powered ones. Nevertheless, algorithms, because it seems, aren’t the perfect at recommending music. An article by MIT Expertise Overview states, “Somewhat than difficult your tastes, algorithms solely present shuffled variations of what you already get pleasure from.”
When you really feel Spotify’s algorithm has change into repetitive, you are actually not alone – a number of customers on the web have raised issues about the identical, so it isn’t an remoted case. Apart from the playlist suggestions, its AI DJ function is equally repetitive, because it primarily simply performs the identical songs that you just already like. You could not hear sufficient new music whereas utilizing Spotify’s AI DJ function, which exacerbates the platform’s normal theme of taking part in sounds you already like.
Whereas there are various algorithmically pushed customized playlist suggestions on Spotify which might be repeatedly up to date, they usually resemble one another and comprise songs with the identical sound, based on MIT Expertise Overview. The final word purpose of Spotify’s advice algorithm is not discovery, based on The Verge. Its sole function is to maintain you listening, and it achieves that by feeding you what is acquainted.
You do not personal music even when you pay for Premium
Spotify gives a handy solution to hearken to your favourite artists and tracks. You pay a small month-to-month payment and, in trade, you may hearken to out there songs so long as you will have an energetic subscription. Or, when you’re on a free plan, in trade for listening to adverts. However even when you’re paying for the Premium Particular person subscription, which prices $11.99 monthly, you are not truly shopping for the music. You are solely paying for entry to the music for a restricted period of time.
In different phrases, you are renting these songs; you do not personal them. Moreover, by renting, the homeowners of the tracks reserve the best to take away the songs at any time and with out discover. As an illustration, you could have performed a track final week, and also you won’t be capable of hearken to it the next week as a result of it has been restricted because of licensing points. That is in contrast to shopping for music from platforms like iTunes, Bandcamp, or Qobuz.
Once you purchase music for, say, $10 an album, you get to maintain it and hearken to it with out paying a month-to-month subscription payment. With Spotify Premium, you aren’t getting such a privilege, so that you’re pressured to proceed paying for the service in perpetuity, so long as you’d wish to hearken to music.
Spotify would not have each track
Certain, Spotify has one of the crucial intensive music catalogs with over 100 million songs and repeatedly provides new content material. However the truth that it accommodates tens of millions of songs doesn’t suggest it has each track ever produced. In truth, a Spotify help web page clearly states, “We do not have all of the world’s music and podcasts on Spotify.”
So do not be shocked when you run right into a case the place considered one of your favourite songs is not out there on the service. That could possibly be as a result of the track was by no means added, or it could possibly be as a result of it was pulled from the platform by the artist. The latter may appear absurd, however we have seen it play out prior to now.
As an illustration, in 2022, Neil Younger and Joni Mitchell eliminated their total catalog from Spotify. Taylor Swift additionally eliminated her music from Spotify in 2014 in protest of low royalties. In September 2025, a number of artists additionally eliminated their songs from the service to protest Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s funding in an AI army protection firm.
