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Activists Launch ‘Spotify Unwrapped’ to Pressure Spotify Over ICE Ads, AI Music and Ek’s Military AI Ties

Organizers ask listeners to turn the app’s annual stats moment into a protest by sharing a toolkit, tagging the company, then canceling Premium.

Overview

  • Working Families Party, 50501 Movement, and Indivisible unveiled the Spotify Unwrapped campaign during the Wrapped rollout to intensify pressure on the platform.
  • The toolkit urges users to post campaign assets, call out the company on social media, and cancel Spotify Premium over ICE recruitment ads and AI-generated or impersonator music.
  • Spotify has stated the ICE recruitment spots comply with U.S. advertising policy and are part of a broader government campaign, and Rolling Stone reported DHS spent about $74,000 on such ads this year.
  • Responding to AI-related concerns earlier this year, Spotify said it would remove roughly 75 million problematic tracks and target impersonators to protect listeners and artists.
  • Artist protests have included catalog withdrawals tied to Daniel Ek’s investment in military AI firm Helsing, and he has said he will transition to executive chairman on January 1, 2026.