Spotify

Disabling Music Clips in Spotify

Disabling Music Clips in Spotify

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Spotify has implemented some unconventional user-experience decisions that can often lead to confusion. The application’s design is disorganized, featuring multiple panels, and it consistently monitors user activities. Additionally, there seems to be an unwillingness to allow full album playback. These aspects create an impression that Spotify’s creators are directing users to engage with the platform in certain predetermined ways.

Users have voiced their displeasure regarding the inclusion of music videos on Spotify, especially since they automatically start playing in the background when an artist uploads one. Some music videos feature different audio tracks compared to the album versions, which may be distracting. The automatic playback of these videos consumes both bandwidth and battery life, leading to frustration among many users.

The desktop version of Spotify shows videos in a compact album art panel, and enlarging them can be troublesome. The selection of videos on the platform often appears arbitrary, causing some users to turn to YouTube for music video content instead.

Until recently, there wasn’t an easy way to turn off videos on Spotify, but that has changed. A toggle has been introduced in the settings that allows users to disable music videos, as well as features for Canvas and video podcasts. On mobile devices, users can access this by clicking on their profile icon, then choosing “Settings and privacy” and selecting “Content and display.”

In the “Videos and Canvas” section, there are three toggles available: one for music videos, one for Canvas, and one for all other videos, including podcasts. Disabling these options helps decrease bandwidth usage on Spotify.

For the desktop app, users can find these settings by clicking their profile icon, selecting “Settings,” and scrolling to the “Videos and Canvas” section. Tests have confirmed that turning off these settings removes the music video icon from playlists and albums, although a “Switch to video” button remains, which encourages users to reactivate videos if pressed.

Many hope that Spotify will handle music videos more judiciously. Having video playlists distinct from audio-only playlists would be beneficial, ensuring users do not encounter videos when searching for album versions. There is optimism that upcoming updates to the Spotify interface will provide clearer distinctions between various features.

Spotify Recognizes Streaming Fraud After Kalshi Trader's Allegation

Spotify Recognizes Streaming Fraud After Kalshi Trader’s Allegation

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Caleb Davies, a well-known trader on Kalshi, often shares with the media how prediction markets play a role in his financial achievements. The IT expert from Minneapolis indicates that he has made roughly $1.2 million across different prediction platforms, with $414,000 coming from Kalshi’s culture markets. Davies is particularly focused on music charts, utilizing Spotify data to inform his betting strategies. “Every morning, I download the data and update my projections,” he tells WIRED.

Nonetheless, this summer, Davies has expressed concerns regarding what he sees as automated manipulation within Spotify-related markets. He has collected and disseminated evidence supporting these concerns and has contacted Spotify, Kalshi, and Polymarket to relay his apprehensions.

The situation escalated when Malcolm Todd’s song “Earrings” unexpectedly soared to the top of a Spotify chart. In a series of posts on X, Davies speculated about the presence of “botting,” where automated systems artificially boost streaming numbers. He proposed that traders in the prediction market were employing bots to modify event contracts. Todd’s surprising ascent wasn’t even represented on Polymarket, suggesting a statistical anomaly that Davies deemed questionable.

Spotify confirmed that it examined the manipulation incidents pointed out by Davies and detected fraudulent streaming activity. “All streaming services face continuous manipulation. Spotify deploys advanced detection measures and does not compensate for manipulated streams,” stated spokesperson Laura Batey. There was no formal statement regarding Davies’ theory on prediction markets manipulation.

After the inquiry, Spotify revised its charts, eliminating over 500,000 fraudulent streams, which resulted in Todd’s drop from first to fourth place. This adjustment arrived too late for Kalshi, which had already rewarded those who bet on Todd’s track.

Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana disclosed that they have been in ongoing discussions with Spotify. Consequently, Kalshi removed Spotify’s branding from relevant markets and specified that Spotify had not authenticated the chart outcomes.

When Davies raised his concerns with Kalshi, the company’s head of enforcement, Robert DeNault, indicated that only Spotify could validate botting activity. He also proposed alternative explanations for the surge.

Davies informed WIRED, “No one from Polymarket profited from the fraud. This contradicts Kalshi’s perspective as Malcolm Todd wasn’t an option there.”

Polymarket counters this assertion. “This assertion is impractical because we did not list Malcolm Todd in this Spotify market,” conveyed spokesperson Annabel Walsh. The platform is probing the larger issue of streaming manipulation, but has not identified any immediate problems.

The motives of those responsible for the manipulation remain unclear, as no direct communications have occurred. Todd has not made any remarks, and there is no evidence of his involvement.