WTF is up with Spotify?
The Sam Sanders Show
KCRW & Sam Sanders
4.9 • 707 Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There’s a little trend that’s gaining a lot of traction… Many people are leaving Spotify – and making a fuss on their way out.
They’re angry at the platform and the algorithm. They’re angry with how it pays artists. Some users are very angry about the ads Spotify runs. It’s quite the vibe shift for the world’s largest music streaming service. Sam breaks it all down with Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman who recently reported from Spotify’s headquarters in Stockholm.
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The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Sam Sanders here. Thank you so much for checking out the show. So this episode, I wanted to talk some more about something I saw happening towards the end of 2025. You may have noticed it too. A lot of people started leaving Spotify and like making a lot of fuss about it. |
| 0:24.5 | They were angry, angry at the platform and its algorithm, angry at the way it compensates musicians. |
| 0:31.8 | Some people were even angry about the types of ads Spotify runs. |
| 0:37.1 | This was quite the vibe shift for the company. |
| 0:40.4 | Just a few years ago, I remember everyone I know |
| 0:43.0 | enthusiastically sharing their end of year Spotify wrapped. |
| 0:47.9 | You probably did that as well. |
| 0:50.0 | I can recall the heyday for a few days each December |
| 0:53.7 | felt like Spotify took over the entire internet in the best way. |
| 0:59.0 | What changed? And is Spotify in trouble? |
| 1:02.7 | I posed these questions to Ashley Carmen. |
| 1:05.4 | Ashley is a reporter at Bloomberg Business Week, and she recently spent some time at Spotify headquarters in Sweden, |
| 1:12.6 | where she interviewed the company's executive leadership. |
| 1:16.1 | I talk with Ashley about that trip and about all the headaches Spotify is dealing with right now, |
| 1:21.8 | as well as what the company has planned for its future. |
| 1:25.2 | Spoiler alert, that future includes a lot more video. |
| 1:30.0 | Deep sigh. |
| 1:32.1 | All right, if you, like me, have questions for and about the world's biggest music streamer. |
| 1:39.0 | This episode is for you. |
| 1:41.3 | Enjoy. |
| 1:46.2 | I've wanted to have this conversation about Spotify for a long time because it seemed after years |
| 1:53.3 | of people complaining about this company, it hit a fever pitch in maybe the last six months |
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