Overview
- A Spotify spokesperson confirmed to Variety that the ICE recruitment campaign ended late last year and that no such ads are currently running on the service.
- The company told Pitchfork the timeline predates this week’s fatal Minneapolis shooting by an ICE agent and said the campaign had concluded on most platforms by year-end.
- The government buy ran across major services including Hulu, Max, YouTube, and Pandora, with placements reported as far back as April.
- Rolling Stone reported Spotify received $74,000 from the Department of Homeland Security, while Equis data showed Google and YouTube were paid about $3 million for Spanish-language ads promoting self-deportation.
- Progressive groups organized boycotts and some users reported cancellations, as Spotify said the content complied with its ad policies and pointed to user tools for rating ads.