US Congress has challenged Spotify on their Discovery Mode feature – and they're not happy with the streaming company's response. In April, a group of US Congress politicians wrote to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek with some more questions about the streaming service’s Discovery Mode feature, where artists and labels can choose tracks for promotion in Spotify’s autoplay and radio modes in return for lower royalty rates. They asked for more transparency about which tracks are using the program and for Spotify to clearly label those tracks as paid promotion on its service, for listeners to see.
Now Spotify have responded, claiming that artists using Discover Mode see “an average of more than 40% growth in listeners”, while pointing to its blog post about the feature and its terms and conditions as examples of its transparency for listeners. Are the politicians satisfied? Not quite. “The response we received from Spotify regarding consumer disclosure points to a blog post and vague language about commercial considerations that are buried in their terms of service and several clicks deep on their application,” said representatives Yvette D. Clarke, Judy Chu and Tony Cardenas in a statement. Kudos to them for pushing for greater transparency. Via Billboard