Spotify is putting an end to political ads in 2020

Spotify is joining the lineup of companies that are taking a stand on political ads for the 2020 election. The company is banning political ads on Spotify-owned content for the upcoming presidential election.

At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our processes, systems, and tools to responsibly validate and review this content. We will reassess this decision as we continue to evolve our capabilities.

As reported by Ad Age, the music-streaming giant is installing a new policy for advertisers. Ads that are specifically about, among others, candidates, Super PACs, and political parties will be banned from the platform. In addition to that, Spotify will take it upon themselves to eliminate commercials that try to persuade listeners to vote ‘Yes’ on a certain issue.

Spotify will be putting its foot down on showcasing political ads on specific content

While Spotify is a platform for both Presidential Candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Republican National Committee, the company did not reveal how much money the ads make them. The prohibiting of the ads will only be in the affecting users in the United States. Also, ads may be heard during third-party content, including podcasts that are not owned by Spotify.

Twitter started rolling out the ad banning at the tail end of November and currently does not have an end date. Google, on the other hand, isn’t completely disallowing ads but is changing up its policies in regards to how advertisers target users based on location. However, both companies will be getting rid of heavy manipulated videos of politicians.

Other music streaming services, such as Pandora or SiriusXM, have yet to release their own policies on political ads.

What do you think? Are you ok with political ads being on streaming services and social media? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Spotify is testing Tastebuds, a feature that helps you discover your friends’ favorite music
• Mixhalo lets concertgoers listen to music as it was intended to sound
• Facebook Messenger now requires you to have a Facebook account to join
• Jay-Z is back on Spotify because apparently Tidal isn’t cutting it