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Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

techcrunch.com

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Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#411

Post by danijelb »

nchie wrote: post #368
danijelb wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should TV networks try to block you if you don't look at the TV while ads are running? Or if you turn it off/switch channel/mute it? Same goes for newspapers and magazines - do you have a right to skip pages filled with ads and not look at them?

No, just like Spotify doesn't ban you for turning off the audio during commercials or looking away from the screen.

The only difference between turning off the audio and ad blocking is at which point the data gets blocked. Turning off the audio means that it gets filtered by your phone's audio processing system. Ad blocking means it gets blocked on the network level.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#412

Post by Retra »

School-Cotton wrote: post #358
Retra wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean they're not allowed to complain about it on the internet?

They're "allowed" to do whatever they want, and I'm allowed to think their complaining reeks of entitlement and selfishness.

So if a company X is offering something I would like but on different terms, you think it would be entitled and selfish of me to make it known publicly that I would prefer different terms?

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#413

Post by gowld »

reaperducer wrote: post #377
yial wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using US prices, a black basic coffee is probably $2-3 at a coffee shop. Any kind of specialty drinks, which most people I would believe get at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, the local coffee shop, end up being $5-8, not even in a major city or metropolitan area.

Using US prices, a black basic coffee is probably $2-3 at a coffee shop. Any size coffee is $1 at McDonald's 24/7. The quality is improving, too, so it's something to remember when you're traveling in unfamiliar territory.

Is that better than buying a pack of caffeine pills to travel with?

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#415

Post by bad_user »

vvillena wrote: post #123
bad_user wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s fascinating to me is the length people go to in order to justify freeloading. If you don’t like the ads, Spotify has a subscription plan. In my country that’s €5 / month. Surely that’s less money spent than the effort it takes to pirate music for usage with foobar2000.

Surely the capability to deliver JS is still there, even if you're a premium user. This is worrying.

Yes, that happens basically with any app you run on your computer, duh.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#416

Post by gowld »

g45y45 wrote: post #354
michaelmior wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1-2 coffees a month Where do you buy coffee that one coffee costs $10?! (or even $5?) I still don't think it's a lot of money, but not quite so trivial.

I typically buy at least 1 coffee a day for $7 at starbucks. Without this, I cannot function. I still cannot justify paying for any media. Certainly not $10+/month for Spotify or Netflix. Sorry. I don't care this seems inconsistent, its consistent to my own beliefs.

Your beliefs are that coffee is infinitely more valuable than media, even though you need both in your life?

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#417

Post by zzzcpan »

opencl wrote: post #385
zzzcpan wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, paying for service doesn't guarantee ad-free and tracking-free experience at all, especially for VC backed companies. They probably already inject tons of tracking for paying users. And those users are still just users, not customers. The only real customers of spotify are advertisers and sooner or later paying users are going to be sold to advertisers, there is just more money there and they can't ignore that.

Ads only make up ~10% of Spotify's revenue. If they start putting ads on the paid version everyone will just leave for one of the competing ad-free services (Amazon, Apple, Google). I'm sure you're right about the tracking though. https://adexchanger.com/digital-audio-radio/spotifys-f-1-sho...

Do you see subscription model work for music in the long run?

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#418

Post by hnra »

Retra wrote: post #335
School-Cotton wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well sure, then don't use Spotify, what's the problem? If a business is offering a product at terms you don't like, how exactly is that bad? Just don't use the product.

You mean they're not allowed to complain about it on the internet?

The presumption is that they were using the product against the stipulated terms. Nobody is arguing against free speech and if you think Spotify are awful for serving bad ads you can say so.

But this article is specifically about people using a product against the stipulated terms. Criticizing bad ads is valid in general, but people expect topical discussions to stick to the context. Either clarify you are speaking from a different context or you will get misinterpreted.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#419

Post by gowld »

omegabravo wrote: post #393
anoncake wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, yes.

What's the difference between an ad and a recommendation? I'm not sure but this certainly feels like suggested music to me.

The difference is whether I have the power to customize it or turn it off, or if it is forced into my attention.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#420

Post by dithering »

gramstrong wrote: post #384
dithering wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago, a Windows virus slipped on to three family machines I'm the go-to-guy for, due to Spotify using IE to display ads, and not vetting its ads properly. My answer was two-fold - never use Spotify, and always use an ad-blocker.

I've pretty much always paid for Spotify, and from what I can remember when they first started all of their ads were "radio" ads. How were they using IE to display their ads? Did they introduce pop-ups?

Embedded in the desktop app. It was news at the time. "spotify ads malware" looks like a good search term to dig up more information.
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