Spotify quietly added a button to skip ads in podcasts, except for its own promotional content — and it’s sparked widespread concern for the future of podcasting

One of the best parts of having a Spotify Premium membership is the ad-free music streaming experience, however some podcasts still come with ad interruptions — but the platform has quietly rolled out a solution users have been pining for.

Last week users spotted a new ‘Skip ahead’ button that allows listeners to skip through certain parts of a podcast episode more efficiently, including sponsorships, introductions, and any kind of promotional content. This doesn’t apply to ads sold by Spotify, however.

Though Spotify hasn’t formally announced the new tool, it’s been cropping up for more users (including myself) since it was first spotted. We reached out to Spotify, who shared the following statement with us:

“We regularly conduct tests at Spotify — some tests become permanent features, while others help inform future product development. We’re exploring ways to make podcast listening and viewing more intuitive for Premium subscribers based on how people use the platform, with the goal of helping listeners spend more time enjoying podcasts. We’ll continue to evolve the experience as we learn.”

If you thought that all podcasts in Spotify were ad-free like music playback, you’re mistaken. Basically, when creators record podcast shows they often receive sponsorship from brands which are mentioned throughout an episode, so these podcasts are delivered to Spotify with ads already baked in.

Prior to the rollout of the ‘Skip ahead’ button you could skip through ads by tapping the 15-second skip icon, but this required a lot of guesswork and you’re more prone to accidentally skipping further than needed. With Spotify’s new skip function, it skips through promotional messages straight through to the beginning of the next section doing the work for you.

It’s safe to say that many subscribers will be thrilled about the addition of the ‘Skip ahead’ button, because skipping through ads is one of the most-shared pet peeves among podcast listeners. Besides, it’s frustrating to be paying for a ‘Premium’ experience and still having to sit through these segments. It also puts a lot of the control back into the hands of subscribers, but what looks like a mere skip button to users is industry-changing for creators and businesses.

For a large number of ad-funded podcasts, creators and hosts rely on users to listen to promotional messages in episodes in order to generate revenue. Not only is it one of the primary ways for podcasters to make money, it’s a tactical way to sneak ads into the Premium experience.

While the tool is a big win for listeners on the one hand, others argue that it opens the door for a huge loss on the other — the more users skip through an episode’s ads, the less money hosts make. And because the ‘Skip ahead’ button appears when a creator promotes premium subscriptions for brands that sponsor them, they miss out on other opportunities for monetization.

In addition to the losses it could pose for podcasters, the hypocrisy of Spotify exempting its own shows and ads from the ‘Skip ahead’ tool has sparked criticism as it could have a serious impact on its competitors and their ad-funded shows.

Max Tani from Semafor dissects in his own coverage, sharing the following: “The new skip button underscores Spotify’s push toward premium subscriptions. It’s prioritizing steady, recurring revenue and cementing a two-tiered advertising system, in which marketing bought directly through Spotify can’t be skipped — while publishers’ own ads can be, devaluing them”.

With these concerns circulating, Spotify clarified to us that its new ‘Skip ahead’ button won’t cause any long-term changes to podcasts and creators alike. The platform told us that its new skip button “has been designed to improve the Premium listener experience while maintaining the integrity of ad delivery”.

The platform added that it’s been “seeing audiences reinvest the time saved by listening to more content and spending more time with podcasts overall, so [we] don’t expect these changes to impact monetization for creators negatively”.

Spotify’s new skipping function is still very fresh, but one that’s already proven to be quite divisive. It’s unclear whether or not the company will device to build on this, but as far as the user experience goes, the tool seems to have improved it slightly.