People Are Boycotting Spotify, and No, It’s Not About the Music

As one of the world’s most popular audio streaming services, with over 700 million users, per Spotify's website, it comes as quite a shock to hear that people are boycotting Spotify. What could the company possibly have done to become a boycott target? Well, we’ll tell you, it has nothing to do with music selection or playlist discrepancies. It actually comes down to the ads it’s choosing to run.

But isn’t advertising one of Spotify’s biggest revenue streams? Absolutely.

Still, people are looking at this situation under a magnifying glass and going deeper than just seeing it as the company trying to cover its expenses. Because these days, the actions companies take (and don’t take) are being directly tied to their ethics. Just look at how people boycotted Target after it rolled back its DEI initiatives.

Here’s everything to know about the ad running on Spotify that listeners are taking issue with.

People are boycotting Spotify over an ICE recruiting ad the streamer approved to run. If you have the paid version of Spotify and don’t hear ads, you wouldn’t know this was happening. But people on social media are posting clips of the ad playing in real time to prove it, and it’s making many users feel pretty bothered.

A clip of the ICE ad running on Spotify, shared by TikToker @consumedmoss, states: “Join the mission to protect America with bonuses of up to $50,000 and generous benefits. Apply now. Join ICE.gov now and fulfill your mission.”

ICE has been ramping up its efforts since Donald Trump took office for his second term to recruit more individuals. The agency even landed actor Dean Cain, best known for his role on the ’90s TV show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, on its roster of employees. That’s because the Trump administration has been adamant about cracking down on immigration, placing reform at the center of its agenda. That includes limiting who can enter the country and ramping up deportation efforts.

The ICE ads aren’t the only reason people are calling for a Spotify boycott. Users also took issue with the fact that current CEO Daniel Ek has poured hundreds of millions into German defense tech startup Helsing, per CNBC. That move seemed to spark the initial boycott, but the ICE ads were the icing on the cake.

Ek later announced he would step down as Spotify CEO effective Jan. 1, 2026, though he’ll remain active with the company, but will also serve as chairman of Helsing.

While Spotify has dug itself into a hole with many users, and likely won’t be able to climb out of it anytime soon, over its ICE recruitment ads and its founder investing in a German military tech company, it also did something unexpected. It ran an anti-ICE ad, which might suggest the streamer is doing whatever it needs to generate income. Or it may be trying to ease the tension it created with its pro-ICE ad.

This ad, from MoveOn Civic Action, openly mocks ICE’s efforts. It starts with: “Do you feel good about tear-gassing kids? Shooting pastors? Or kidnapping grandmas? Then you have exactly what Donald Trump is looking for!” Spotify also confirmed to Newsweek that this ad was indeed running on its platform.

Take that as you will, but for now, Spotify’s user count seems to be dropping, at least based on the number of people posting online that they’re canceling their subscriptions.