Advertising policies

As a leading platform for creative content and expression, our users are able to enjoy music, spoken word, videos and podcasts ("Content") from a range of creators. That variety of Content also creates a rich space for advertisers to tell their own stories.

We have a range of tools to help advertisers make the most of this opportunity and execute targeted marketing campaigns with Spotify Advertising. One of these tools is our commitment to brand safety. We strive to ensure advertisers feel comfortable with the environment through which their message is communicated.

Here are some of the ways in which we work to protect brands that use Spotify Advertising.

We believe in everyone's right to share their voice. However, we don't support content that violates our User Guidelines and Platform Rules. More information can be found in this article.

Creators who repeatedly violate our policies risk losing access to our platform and services offered through Spotify. We also have guidelines on the types of advertising that we don't accept, which can be found in our Advertising Editorial Policies.

We want to help advertisers place ads against content that aligns with their brand, so we work closely with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) to ensure we are enforcing an informed monetization floor. In keeping with the GARM Brand Safety floor, the following types of content are not eligible for any advertising support:

Adult & Explicit Sexual Content to include:

• Explicit or gratuitous depiction of sexual acts, and/or display of genitals, real or animated

Arms & Ammunition to include:

• Promotion and advocacy of Sales of illegal arms, rifles, and handguns
• Instructive content on how to obtain, make, distribute, or use illegal arms
• Glamorization of illegal arms for the purpose of harm to others
• Use of illegal arms in unregulated environments

Crime & Harmful acts to individuals and Society, Human Right Violations to include:

• Graphic promotion, advocacy, and depiction of willful harm and actual unlawful criminal activity
• Explicit violations/demeaning offenses of Human Rights (e.g. human trafficking, slavery, self-harm, animal cruelty etc.)
• Harassment or bullying of individuals and groups

Death, Injury or Military Conflict to include:

• Promotion, incitement or advocacy of violence, death or injury
• Murder or willful bodily harm to others
• Graphic depictions of willful harm to others
• Incendiary content provoking, enticing, or evoking military aggression
• Live action footage/photos/audio of military actions and genocide or other war crimes

Online piracy to include:

• Pirating, copyright infringement, and counterfeiting

Hate speech & acts of aggression to include:

• Behavior or content that incites hatred, promotes violence, vilifies, or dehumanizes groups or individuals based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, nationality, religion, caste, victims and survivors of violent acts and their kin, immigration status, or serious disease sufferers

Obscenity and Profanity to include:

• Excessive use of profane language or gestures and other repulsive actions that shock, offend, or insult.

Illegal Drugs/Tobacco/e-cigarettes/Vaping/Alcohol to include:

• Promotion or sale of illegal drug use – including abuse of prescription drugs.
• Promotion and advocacy of tobacco, e-cigarette (vaping), alcohol use by minors

Spam or Harmful Content to include:

• Malware/Phishing

Terrorism to include:

• Promotion and advocacy of graphic terrorist activity involving defamation, physical and/or emotional harm of individuals, communities, and society

Debated Sensitive Social Issue to include:

• Insensitive, irresponsible and harmful treatment of debated social issues and related acts that demean a particular group or incite greater conflict.

It’s important that advertisers and creators familiarize themselves with the monetization floor and keep up to date on its latest iteration.

Targeting campaigns appropriately helps advertisers communicate their messaging to relevant audiences. We offer a variety of parameters across our channels to help advertisers achieve the degree of targeting that suits them. These may include:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Platform
• Daypart
• Language
• Playlist
• Genre

We also offer exclusion targeting to remove certain podcast content from the scope of marketing plans (currently US only).

How we work with advertisers that have concerns with their ad placement

We investigate and take action: We encourage advertisers who have concerns over the placement of their ads to contact us. Those advertisers who place adverts via Spotify Ad Studio should contact Ad Studio Support -- all other advertisers should contact their Spotify sales representative. We'll take all reasonable steps to resolve any ad takedown requests promptly, but typically within 2 business days.

We want our users to enjoy the Spotify Service in a safe and fun environment. With that in mind, we've established a few ground rules for our Advertisers to follow when promoting their products and services on Spotify.

To promote a positive user experience, the below sets forth (1) our general content standards; (2) content that is prohibited on the Spotify Service; and (3) products and services that have restrictions on them and that require approval on a case-by-case basis.

Spotify continues to support advertising initiatives that result in better experiences for our users and community. Learn more about one of these initiatives by the Coalition for Better Ads here.

Advertisers are responsible for ensuring the following:

• Any Ads they seek to place on the Spotify Service comply with all applicable law, regulations and industry codes.
• Their Ads must be of the highest quality and standards and accurately reflect the Advertiser's brand.

Ads containing the following content are prohibited on the Spotify Service:

• Shocking, sensational, obscene, disrespectful, or violent content
• Nudity or other explicit adult content
• Content depicting illegal drug use or any other unlawful activity
• Content depicting irresponsible or underage drinking
• Content that infringes upon or violates, or encourages the infringement or violation of, the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, defamation, or other personal or proprietary rights
• Content that promotes stereotypes or inaccurately portrays or attacks an individual or group on the basis of age, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or handicap
• Deceptive, false, misleading, or fraudulent content
• Content that uses Spotify's trademarks, trade names, brand features, or other intellectual property without our prior written approval
• Content that implies an endorsement or relationship between the Advertiser and any label, artist, album, or track on the Spotify Service, unless the Advertiser has independently obtained the rights to imply such an endorsement
• Content that directs users to phishing links, malware, or similarly harmful codes or sites

Ads promoting the following products and services are prohibited on the Spotify Service:

Adult products and services, tobacco, drugs, and related products, such as:

• Cigarettes
• Other tobacco products (including e-cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, or paraphernalia such as pipes or pipe cleaners or rolling papers)
• Illegal or recreational drugs or paraphernalia
• Pornography or other sexually explicit content

Dangerous weapons, such as:

• Firearms
• Explosives
• Related accessories

Any illegal conduct, product, enterprise or service, including but not limited to:

• Unauthorized ticket sales
• Counterfeit, fake or bootleg products
• Deceptive or fraudulent offers
• Products or services that directly or indirectly infringe intellectual property laws, including illegal p2p, file-sharing, or bittorrents
• Payday loans or "work from home" schemes

Certain cryptocurrencies and related content (e.g. binary options, initial coin offerings).

Ads promoting the following content, products and services are allowed with some restrictions and/or limitations. To learn more about these restrictions, advertisers placing Ads via Spotify Ad Studio should contact Ad Studio Support and all other advertisers should contact their Spotify sales representative:

• Alcohol
• Online dating services
• Gambling and games of skill
• Lotteries run by government entities
• Contraceptives
• Weight loss, dietary and herbal supplements
• Products or services that compete with any Spotify product or service
• Financial services
• Insurance
• Religion or religious causes
• Online prescription pharmacies
• Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets
• Political advertisements

We reserve the right to reject or remove any Ad for any reason. This includes Ads that negatively affect our relationship with our partners or that promote content that goes against our interests. We also reserve the right to request modifications to any Ad, and to require factual substantiation for any claim. These rules are subject to change at any time.

This document is not intended as legal advice. These guidelines are a general statement of Spotify’s advertising standards and are not intended to be comprehensive. Third party advertising is subject to review by Spotify. Adherence to the guidelines outlined in this document (a) does not guarantee that the Ad will be accepted for display on the Spotify Service; and (b) is not necessarily sufficient to meet the standards of any local laws or regulations. Spotify encourages each advertiser and its agency to consult with legal counsel before seeking to place any advertising on the Spotify Service.