{"id":8462,"date":"2025-11-05T20:19:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/spotify-lawsuit-says-discovery-mode-is-just-modern-payola\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T20:19:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:19:21","slug":"spotify-lawsuit-says-discovery-mode-is-just-modern-payola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/spotify-lawsuit-says-discovery-mode-is-just-modern-payola\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify Lawsuit Says ‘Discovery Mode’ Is Just ‘Modern Payola’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tSpotify is facing a class action lawsuit claiming its Discovery Mode and editorial playlists are a \u201cmodern form of payola\u201d that allow record labels and artists to secretly pay to promote their music.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit, filed on Wednesday (Nov. 5) in New York, alleges that Spotify\u2019s recommendation tools are a \u201cdeceptive pay-for-play\u201d program, but that the streamer misleads consumers into trusting that they are neutral and based on personal musical tastes.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cSpotify exploits that trust by marketing itself as a platform that offers organic music recommendations \u2014 whether through its algorithmic or curated playlists \u2014 only to secretly sell those recommendations to the highest bidder,\u201d reads the lawsuit, obtained by Billboard<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe case was filed by a Spotify subscriber named Genevieve Capolongo, who seeks to represent \u201cmillions\u201d of other users who were allegedly misled by Spotify\u2019s offerings. Her lawyers say she used the platform\u2019s personalization features for years, but \u201ckept hearing the same major-label tracks\u201d that \u201cbore little resemblance to her listening habits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement to Billboard<\/em>, a spokesperson for Spotify called the accusations \u201cnonsense\u201d and pointed to its detailed explanation<\/a> of the program. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNot only do they misrepresent what Discovery Mode is and how it works, but they are riddled with misunderstandings and inaccuracies,\u201d the company said. \u201cDiscovery Mode is a feature artists can use to flag priority tracks for algorithmic consideration in limited contexts: Radio, Autoplay, and certain Mixes. It doesn\u2019t buy plays, it doesn\u2019t affect editorial playlists, and it\u2019s clearly disclosed in the app and on our website.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Daniel<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe new case is the latest to claim that major labels are buying placement on Spotify to boost their artists. The high-profile lawsuit filed by Drake over Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cNot Like Us\u201d included accusations that Universal Music Group used bots and payments to juice the song\u2019s popularity on many platforms, including Spotify. Another case, filed earlier this week, claims that Spotify \u201cturned a blind eye\u201d to bots and other forms of fraudulent streams designed to inflate certain artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tFirst unveiled in 2020<\/a>, Discovery Mode allows artists and labels to get boosted on Spotify in return for accepting reduced royalties. It was initially met with scrutiny, including a Congressional investigation, over its similarities to payola, or the practice of secretly paying radio stations for airplay. But it has become a popular industry marketing tool around the release of new music.<\/p>\n

\n\tMuch of Wednesday\u2019s lawsuit is focused on the extent to which Spotify discloses the exact parameters of Discovery Mode to its users. Though listeners are offered a link to an \u201cAbout Recommendations\u201d explainer when using it, Capolongo\u2019s attorneys say that isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTelling users that \u2018commercial considerations may influence\u2019 recommendations does not reveal which songs are being promoted commercially and which are being recommended organically,\u201d her lawyers write. \u201cWithout that specificity, users cannot distinguish between genuine personalization and covert advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Spotify\"<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit also claims that Spotify\u2019s editorial playlists, like the hugely influential Today\u2019s Top Hits and RapCaviar, are also subject to pay-for-play. But it fails to offer any concrete examples of such payments, citing only unnamed \u201cindustry insiders\u201d confirming that it happens and circumstantial evidence about the \u201cdisproportionate\u201d rates of major-label music on such playlists.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn technical terms, the lawsuit claims Spotify\u2019s conduct violated New York state law with deceptive practices and false advertising. It also claims Capolongo was fraudulently induced to subscribe and that Spotify was unjustly enriched by its behavior.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn more straightforward language, Capolongo says she simply wouldn\u2019t have paid for Spotify if she had \u201cknown the truth\u201d about the service: \u201cThat Spotify\u2019s playlists and recommendations are shaped by undisclosed pay-for-play arrangements and hidden commercial incentives, not by her listening history alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spotify is facing a class action lawsuit claiming its Discovery Mode and editorial playlists are a \u201cmodern form of payola\u201d that allow record labels and artists to secretly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2569,303,6990,6991,6992,1217],"class_list":["post-8462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-discovery","tag-lawsuit","tag-mode","tag-modern","tag-payola","tag-spotify"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}