Spotify mistakenly throws out ads to Premium account holders

If you are a Spotify Premium user, your recent listening experience might have been interrupted with the insertion of ads into certain playlists.Spotify has since then said that the in-house ads were "loaded by mistake" when they appeared to paying subscribers, according to TechCrunch. Marketing has reached out to Spotify for more comments.The issue was first brought to light in a latest post on American discussion website Reddit, where one of the users said the first "song" on the "This is: Hans Zimmer" Official Spotify playlist was in reality an advert for an upcoming Spotify podcast "Showstopper", which was unrelated to Hans Zimmer."Even if it was related to Hans Zimmer, it still would have been unacceptable, especially since I am a paying customer paying for UNINTERRUPTED listening," the Reddit user said. Another Spotify Premium user tweeted that the music streaming site has also interrupted the RapCaviar playlist with video ads, and that the ads have "[infested] all of the playlists".@Spotify why are you injecting ads into PREMIUM accounts? I am paying you so I don't hear ads. pic.twitter.com/Up83Y3vyRZ— (((Kelly Lincoln))) (@ExitPass) January 17, 2018They're infesting all of the playlists. RAP CAVIAR has embedded VIDEO PROMOS in the midst of the playlist as well.— (((Kelly Lincoln))) (@ExitPass) January 17, 2018Quoting the company's spokesperson, TechCrunch said that it is trialling new ways to promote "Showstoppers" around relevant playlists, and that it "should not have appeared" for Premium users.The original podcasts, including "Showstopper", were launched by Spotify last February. Recently, the music streaming service also launched a new multimedia format "Spotlight", which introduces visual elements such as photos, videos and text, to complement the listening experience for its audio content. Among the list of partners Spotify is working with for "Spotlight" include Buzzfeed News, Genius, Refinery29 and Uninterrupted. "Spotlight" will also showcase content from Spotify's own original series including RISE, Spotify Singles and Viva Latino.Earlier this month, Spotify confidentially filed for a public listing that lets companies list shares without raising money through a traditional stock offering. It also appointed Universal McCann last August to manage its global media planning and buying duties, following a competitive review which began in late 2016.