Who’s Really Listening?
Most of us listen to music everyday. Most of us listen to music on Spotify. Most of us don’t know what Spotify is listening to. So are we streaming music on Spotify or is Spotify streaming us?
Let me explain. This all started with a class I took this semester where we happened to be discussing data privacy in music streaming. One wouldn’t think they are related to the extent they actually are. So we all know that in order for us to get these personalized music suggestions and playlists that are “Made for You”- the app we use to stream music has to be collecting a certain amount of data points on our music taste, preferences in order to recommend songs that we would enjoy. However, Spotify knows much more. “Every tap, song start, playlist listen, search, shuffle, and pause is logged” (WIRED, 2021). The app knows that you started listening to “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo, when you paused it and searched for a breakup playlist.
Music can be very telling to who a person really is. Just from music taste and listening habits, Spotify knows how you’re feeling, who you’re with and what you’re doing. They have collected mines of behavioral data on their users; and as of today, data is the most valuable asset. Now they use this data in targeted advertising campaigns like “Dear person in the Theater District who listened to the Hamilton Soundtrack 5,376 times this year, can you get us tickets?". But that’s not all - when you make your Spotify account you reveal your username, email, phone number, date of birth, gender, street address and country. The added premium layer gives them access to your billing information where their privacy policy (that you agree to) gives them your cookie data, IP addresses, device and browser type and details about your operation systems and surrounding WiFi Networks. If you use their “Hey Spotify” feature it can get mobile censored data, and also access these recordings and data whenever they want to.
When you think of social media or data collection you never think of Spotify- your mind would go to companies like Meta with apps like Instagram- who are more overt about their data collection. Spotify collects this behavioral data and more, but we don’t realize it because there’s no real “social” or “sharing” aspect to the app. You don’t share photos, videos or direct messages with other users, but just through your music taste Spotify knows exactly how you think. Spotify’s personalization doesn’t stop at the recommendation of songs or making your new favorite playlist- the adverts you receive are targeting your mood, which the app learns over time. Someone who listens to folk music versus someone who listens to hard rock or pop get differently targeted adverts on their interface - and why is this important? Because, the more relevant the ad is the more the user is likely to engage with it- so it attracts a much higher price.
Issues and controversy surrounding transparency and privacy policies got so bad that in 2023, a Swedish regulator fined Spotify as they determined that Spotify had violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDRR). The issue really was the lack of transparency and communication in their data collection. It became known that Spotify collected so much data on their users, that they owned, and they refused to disclose the data, how they use it or reasons for collection upon request. It’s not just data collection. They own all the data they collect, which allows them to sell and trade this data as well. So not only are they playing a massive role in the attention economy they also have disguised this in such a way that users agree to their data being owned and sold.
There are some ways to limit the data collection by Spotify as “If you're a subscriber, you already pay Spotify $9.99 every month. There's no need to passively hand over your valuable personal data free of charge as well.” Hidden in the depths of settings within the app, in the privacy settings one can turn off tailored advertising and opt out from Spotify accessing your Facebook data. You can also start streaming your music in a Private Session, which “may not influence” the music recommendations made by the app.
Learning that Spotify too uses the same surveillance capitalist model as Meta and other larger tech giants hurt a little - as now it almost seems no platform really respects their user privacy. Learning this information was definitely jarring as I never viewed music streaming in this light- specifically because it is an activity that most of us engage in on a daily basis. It just makes you more away, and wonder if we’re really safe from any of these platforms? Do we accept that this is the new reality? What can we really do about it?
