Spotify users are running into a weird situation that is pushing ads despite paying for a Premium subscription. Taking to the Spotify community forum, Reddit, and X, multiple users have complained that they are seeing and listening to ads which can’t be skipped.
The streaming company’s support channel has confirmed that its engineering team is looking into the issue. In a forum post, Spotify mentioned that if the issue isn’t fixed, users should try to log in and out of their account 2-3 times for the sync process to work as usual.
Spotify is also suggesting users to clear the app’s cache on their phone and relaunch it. Furthermore, the support channel on X has even advised users to delete the app and install it again, though it’s not sure whether the trick would work.
Hi there. We're sorry to hear about this. Could you try clearing your app's cache, following these steps: https://t.co/6FR9xeIUou? Let us know how it goes. We'll keep an eye out for your updates.
— SpotifyCares (@SpotifyCares) March 6, 2025
However, multiple users are claiming that the workaround is not taking the problem away. It seems ads are affecting customers who are paying for standalone, Duo, as well as Family premium plans.
“Also having the same issue today, have combed through all settings and logged in/out multiple times. Driving me absolutely mad. They better fix this soon,” wrote one of the affected users.
“Same issue here – just started an hour or two ago. Have tried logging in and logging out, attempted on multiple devices, double checked that payment went through,” said another report.
A few users are getting bombarded with back to back ads, without any respite in sight. “There were 3 ads in a row right now. I’ll switch to Apple music if ads are going to be on Spotify when you have subscription,” wrote one of the affected users on Reddit.
The ad problem is not limited to the mobile app it seems. Multiple reports also mention a similar bug in the web player, or streaming via smart home devices. A few social posts also highlight broken song skip and shuffle features.
Spotify is yet to detail what exactly went wrong with the internal systems, and so far, no workaround has worked universally for the affected users.
In related news, the company is expected to finally launch its hi-fi streaming tier later this year, and also opened its platform to AI-generated audiobooks. Looking over at rivals, YouTube introduced a Premium Lite subscription in the US this week, without access to YouTube Music Premium and features like background play.
