Annoyed with Spotify Premium Ads for Podcasts

Hey Everyone,

I recently have started to listen to a lot more podcasts with my spotify premium account and have noticed that it has quite a lot of ads. Not just infomercials that are spliced in by creators, but full 30 second + ads that are in addition to these.

I am all for podcasters to make money for their work, but I AM ALREADY PAYING FOR PREMIUM SPOTIFY. I hate listening to these additional ads, (ESPECIALLY SCUM SPORTSBET Ads. If I hear about 'bet with mates' one more fucking time I am going to smash my phone) and is leaving a sour taste in my mouth after each time I hear one.

I know that I can just skip these ads, however it becomes hard/annoying to when I am driving (i do not want to touch my phone during driving) or when I am at the gym ect.

Is there a better App i can be using for podcasts? Or even a setting so I don't have to hear more betting ads?

Let me know what App you are using for podcasts and if they also have these additional ads.

Thanks

Poll Options

  • 1
    Amazon Music
  • 11
    Youtube
  • 15
    Google Podcasts
  • 16
    Apple
  • 20
    Spotify
  • 35
    Other

Related Stores

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Comments

  • +4

    I've noticed this creeping in with some of my regulars. I mostly listen to podcasts while driving and you can forward through the. 3 clicks of the forward button generally skips them.

    • +21

      Yeah its not hard to skip, its just why am I paying for premium to also get given ads on top

        • Exactly, vote with your wallet people.

  • +3

    In the distance:

    Bet with mates!

    I used to listen to some podcasts on Apple Podcasts app in the end I preferred to just watch/listen on YouTube (mainly only watch mtg ‘podcasts’ now)

    • +2

      mainly only watch mtg ‘podcasts’ now

      King shit.

      • +1

        idk about you but i am literally fatigued at the rate that WOTC is releasing new sets like bro Im still digesting Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and Streets of New Capenna - let alone the brothers war stuff and Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and march of machines is around the corner smh

        • +1

          Absolutely. I just stopped paying any attention to all releases for the last few years because I got so over it.
          I only started up again because a friend of mine decided to go in on half a dozen Phyrexia Compleat Edition bundles, so I got a couple of those.
          With that said, I only play Commander these days, so there is only a couple of cards per year that release that may be relevant for one of my decks. Ignoring everything else is the easiest way.

          Now I go back into hibernation, ignoring new releases until the Sliver Precon in August.

          • +1

            @Sleeqb7: Love commander but I just don’t have the 2-4 hours required anymore :( usually stick to brawl

            • +1

              @Jimothy Wongingtons: Understandable.
              Alternatively if you increase the power level of the decks being played it can end sooner, but sometimes it's a slog, haha
              I had two games last night, one went for 2hrs, the other went for 20 minutes.

              • +1

                @Sleeqb7: Haha with my play group we said pre cons only now if we’re playing together as they typically just net deck a meta deck and proceed to steamroll.

                • +1

                  @Jimothy Wongingtons: That does indeed cause a long form game.
                  My play group all started out at a fairly low level, but have played enough for a few years that we all steadily built up to reasonably powerful decks. Now I'm going to games at my LGS and remembering why I stopped playing with new people, hah.

                  • @Sleeqb7: I always considered going to my local lgs to verse randoms but for sure I would get rekt by turn 2

  • +17

    I use Pocket Casts app - not sure about now but was originally Aussie made - I'm pretty sure they have been acquired though.

    • +1

      YEah these guys are owned by Automaticc which contributed heavily to Wordpress. Fairly well respected in tech, and pocketcasts is no different, a very good app, but I was turned off by their recent 50% hike in premium fees.

    • Been using this as well for years, great app and works well with Android Auto.

  • +5

    If I hear about 'bet with mates' one more (profanity) time I am going to smash my phone

    I feel your pain friend

    • +1

      I don't get why there is no option to remove betting ads at least!

      • +3

        They are so bad.

      • +1

        I too hate ads when you have already paid for premium membership. As I personally don't support gambling, I had no option but to cancel my Spotify membership. I am currently using Stitcher Premium library and icatcher.

    • +3

      3rd on this, super pet hate, its now everywhere.

      Soon we will see "bet with mates" on nappies and scrolling marque down the side of a condoms.

  • -3

    where is the
    do NOT need podcasts button?

    • +1

      I agree. I don’t ever listen to podcasts and it would be really good to be able to hide them.

  • +9
  • +5

    Ive used podcast addict for years. Its free and you can pay to remove a tiny ad in the bottom but ive never even noticed it.

    The ads are built into the eps themselves but spotify exclusives take it above and beyond. 3 mins of ads on a 10 min ep. Ugh.

    Unfortunately Spotify is paying big bucks to get some exclusive rights so for some podcasts I'm stuck using their player

    • Yeah ok, ill check out podcast addict

    • +1 to Podcast Addict. There are ads, but they seem to come and go randomly as episodes are released, i.e. sometimes they'll be included sometimes not. Anyway, Skip is always your friend.

    • +1

      The other good part is if you know a show has 1 minute of ads at the start of an episode you can set that show to always skip the opening 1 minute. Works really good for a few shows I listen to

    • I switched from Podcast Addict to Google Podcasts. (I think the UI started to annoy me, maybe? Too hard to hit buttons in the car?)

      Google Podcasts is OK, but sometimes buffers when I get back into the car and hit play (why wouldn't they just download a minute ahead? It's not hard, and if I don't end up listening to it, it's not a big waste of bandwidth).

      But it's pretty easy to skip the embedded-in-the-podcast ads, and there are no additional ads.

  • +1

    I haven't used spotify in ages, but are these actually Spotify ads, or Podcast ads?

    Spotify make money off spotify ads, Podcasters may not be Spotify exclusive and so they'll run their own ads external to Spotify. Are you asking Spotify to skip these podcast ads for you that they have no control over?

    • +3

      additional Spotify ads, kind of like ads on youtube. maybe the podcaster gets additional money from these, maybe it goes straight to Spotify. I'm not sure

      • +12

        Wow, that's dog shit.

        • +3

          Yeah it is a joke, especially when you are paying for the service too

      • I run a podcast and at least from my perspective I can't see any Adsense service provided by Spotify.

    • +6

      There was a bit of an uproar a couple of years ago when Spotify verified that paying for premium only removes ads from music, podcasts are different. They give podcast makers the tools to insert ads as a revenue generator.

      No point paying for spotify premium to use podcasts at all, only for music.

      • +1

        I guess, but it is annoying af

  • I use the Rumble app to get X22Report.

  • +1

    I use PodcastGuru but agree, the baked in ads for gambling are a disease that needs to be eradicated.

    Bring back alcohol advertising.

  • Spotify premium is good for music.

    However the podcast content providers get a third of F all from Spotify, hence why the podcast themselves have built in ads.

    Spotify do not control the the ads and therefore don't generate any money for them nor can they remove the ads

    • +4

      I don't think this is true - sounds like Spotify EMBEDS THEIR OWN ADS in podcasts, in addition to whatever in-podcast advertising is happening.

      • +1

        Be good to confirm.

        • Confirmed - there are two different ad variants which can be found all in the same podcast.

          • @ohmumma: ok.. never heard of the ads on my Spotify premium account. I know the ads are from the podcaster as it's usually the podcasters voicing it haha

  • +1

    i listen on my phone during my gym session it has a 'skip 30s' option on the app i use i basically just skip the ads i agree it is annoying but the podcast guys need to live too i guess

    • +1

      i would even pay for an ad free podcast experiece tbh, at least give me the option

      • LMAO so would I but that isnt an option at this stage maybe in the future

  • +1

    https://podcastindex.org/apps

    Was a happy paid PocketCasts user, then went through a FOSS period and switched to AntennaPod - a reasonably straight switch: similar interface, similar features, etc. Have also tried Podverse but don't like the interface and some of the features (or lack thereof, i.e. imported all my subscriptions and wanted to bulk mark all the played episodes: nope, need to mark them individually. No bueno.)

    • Do different apps have access to the same set of podcasts as other apps? Or is it like listnr. Vs iHeartRadio where stations seem to be on one and not the other?

      • +2

        That's one of the unfortunate things happening with Podcasts at present. It used to be that each podcast had an RSS feed that you could subscribe to using whatever application you wanted (even Microsoft Outlook still supports subscribing to RSS feeds!). Various sites aggregated feeds and provided search functionalities - podcastindex.org, gpodder.net, etc - and obviously most podcast apps either utilised these third-party indexes or made their own.

        But various larger players in the industry are trying to consolidate and pay-wall podcasts - yes, the podcasters get funding/monetisation, but the listeners who don't use/want to use/pay for that particular app/subscription get locked out, and some (many?) in the industry see this consolidation as anti-competitive, anti-freedom, etc. Especially since most podcasts use advertising and sponsorships to fund themselves, and the big players (especially Spotify, who is typically flagged in regards to this behaviour, but they're obviously not the only one) are basically trying to become Google for podcast advertising, and have been adding advertising-centric features like dynamic insertion (adding targeted advertising mid-stream, like Youtube ads). I personally have a Spotify Family subscription but refuse to use Spotify for my podcasts: both because it's a trash player and because it goes against my principles.

        I listen to a number of podcasts from Jupiter Broadcasting (generally Linux-focussed) and the owner/host Chris Fisher talks in their "podcast about the podcasts(/business)", Office Hours, about some of the concerns facing podcasters at the moment and some of the potential of "Podcasting 2.0" to help with these. One of the biggest issues being funding. Many Podcasting 2.0 apps have added/are adding the ability to make "Lightning" payments: small payments of Satoshis (micro-Bitcoins: 1 BTC = 100,000,000 Satoshis. No, it's not some "new coin", it's just the "official" name for the smaller unit of Bitcoin: Satoshis to a Bitcoin is like cents to a dollar). The most common methods for making these payments are "Boosts" (sending a set amount of funds, with or without an optional message) or by "Streaming" (where you set a rate per minute listened).

        Long story short, Podcasting is going through some changes right now, and (without trying to sound like a dooms-day-er) is facing some threats to the previous "freedoms" the industry once enjoyed, due to the bigger players trying to consolidate and become the one ring *caster to rule them all.

        • Thank you for an extremely informative reply!

  • Apple Music. They don't even run ads on their free live radio stations, even though it most be costing them a fortune because they have some big names playing the DJs.

  • +1

    Spotify is garbage as a podcast player. Pocketcasts ftw.

  • Ads while still paying is kind of the logical conclusion at this point.

    Streaming services pay four-fifths of sweet FA, and podcasters have figured out they can arrange advertising they control so that they can keep producing their content.

    Only way around it is to start subscribing directly to your favourite podcasts via whatever platform they offer for ad-free listening. But then you'll be paying way more than $16.99 a month if you subscribe to more than 2 or 3.

  • +2

    I use Overcast on my iPhone for podcasts. While I also pay for Spotify, that’s only for music.

    • +1 for Overcast, it has my favourite podcast feature with Smart Speed, which skips silences in podcasts.

  • +2

    I only use the Apple Podcasts app which is great for this as they have the skip 15 seconds button, adds are almost always 30s long or 60s long so I can go skip skip skip skip and voila

    • You can alter the skip times to make it even less presses. Other podcast apps like Pocketcasts and Overcast do this as well.

  • Paying for spotify is paying for the hosting service… you didnt pay for it FOR podcasts. The podcasters are still providing content for free, so they have ads to make money. Even though it sucks, it makes sense. Also, similar to youtube, there is ways of selecting where for the ads to feature and then spotify selects the best ads for your demographic. Again, similar to youtube, if the episode is sponsored by a brand the podcast will mention it in the brand.

    • Opps, sorry accidently downvoted you when I was suppose upvote you.

      Must be a website glitch but I can't change my downvote.

      • +1

        WowI'll never recover

  • +1

    Why would you use Spotify?

    It’s for dumbasses only

    • what are you using?

  • Time for the $50/month super premiums…

  • +1

    I was thinking about that last month, hate those embedded ads zz

  • +2

    I use Snipd. It's free and as far as I'm aware there's no additional "vendor" ads, just sponsored material from the host. No doubt they harvest some data in lieu of payment or ads. Also I suspect they will start charging at some point in the future.

    It's main feature is that it auto transcribes the podcasts to text, auto generates "chapters", and you can snip/clip sections and save them to notes. The neat thing is you can just swipe past the chapter that contains the podcast ad (sponsor read out by the host). It's a decent podcast app even if you don't use that feature. It could do with some polish in certain places, but meh, no ads.

    • haha would be cool if could you add a feature to get an AI voice to then read the script of the podcast back to you (perhaps in your own voice)

  • +1

    "This OzB ad brought to you by Sportsbet"

    We pay Spotify premium family, and run baby lullabies on two google homes at night. Our particular playlist of choice, (6 hour playlist) always has this annoying ad/informational right at the start which is actually built in as part of the first song; about starting your own playlists through some stupid app which goes for 2 minutes, of this loud annoying person before the playlist starts.

    Guarantee the kids wake on this every night. Lovely for when we are up with them half the night, someone forgets to restart the google home - then this ad wakes them at 5am in the morning.

    Ads on kids stuff shts me! Youtube is no better, where 'dancing vegetables' will have a "skippable" 2 minute rap video about drugs, women (in derogatory terms), and murder (and I'm talking some underground derogatory unknown rapper spitting pure filth, not some, more likeable, jayz, tupac or biggie). When you’re preparing food in the kitchen, you have to bolt to turn that off. How do those ads pass on a kids channel? (and why ads even exist for kids, where target audience is < 3 years old) who knows!

    • Yeah adversiting to kids (especially young kids) is so gross.

      I hate now that content (youtube content) has to be 'advertisement friendly' but the consumers don't get to choose what adversisments get bombarded at us. If they are a child, or a recovering betting addict, they have no choice but to consume the horrible ad

  • +1

    Just cancel your account. Your paying to listen to their ads, what a joke.

    • well i like the music part, its just the additional podcast part as well

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