Spotify denies recent accusations of changing the artist’s terminology

This week, Spotify addressed misinformation in circulation about its terms of use.

This response was prompted by videos from creators such as Artist @Chantmagick. This accused Spotify of modifying its terms of use to allow it to transfer the transfer of artists’ rights to music, including partners, affiliates and technology providers to third parties.

Spotify issued an official statement this week to make it clear that these claims are false and that these updated terms do not affect the distribution rights of artists, podcasters, creators and authors regarding music, shows and audiobooks.

Instead, these terms apply to listeners. The term allows Spotify to “see features such as user-created custom playlist covers, user comments about podcasts, and user-created playlist titles,” the company wrote. It is fairly common for streaming platforms and music services to use user-generated content.

The music streaming giant continues to face important criticisms about the treatment of artists, claiming that many are under-compensated for their work on the platform. Last year, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Jamaal Bowman proposed a Musicians Act living wage that aims to increase streaming royalties to one cent per cent.

Despite these concerns, Spotify claims its payments are improving, saying it paid $10 billion in 2024 to the music industry.