Spotify

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 1 historical complaint about Spotify, published in 2012. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• Unable to cancel free trial subscriptionPublished Apr 14, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website: https://www.spotify.com/us/
• Spotify Support contact page: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/contact-us/
• BBB-listed phone (not a support line): (929) 469-5297

Locations

Spotify: cancelling Premium, free-trial charges, refunds and support (checked October 18, 2026)

People searching this page are usually trying to stop a Premium charge, understand a charge after a free trial, or reach Spotify Support. What Spotify's own pages say today:

• Cancel. Spotify's 'How to cancel Premium plans' page gives two steps: 'Go to Manage your plan', then 'Select Cancel subscription'. It says Premium remains active until the next billing date. The page also says you can cancel by completing a form and sending it to Spotify; if your plan is billed through a partner company (for example a mobile or internet provider), the page says to find the partner's contact link on your account page. A Family or Duo plan member who follows the steps is removed from the plan but does not cancel it; the page says to reach out to the plan manager.
• Free trials. The support page on trial charges says that once a trial has ended, the paid subscription 'will continue at the advertised recurring price, unless you cancel it beforehand.' It also says that cancelling during a zero-priced trial switches the account to the free service immediately and that such trials cannot be reactivated. A small temporary authorization hold may appear at sign-up. The same page lists reasons a trial may not be offered: 'You've already had a trial' and 'You've purchased Premium before'. The Paid Subscription Terms (section 4.3) say that cancelling a paid (not zero-priced) trial switches the account to the free service at the end of the Trial Period, and, in capitals, that a trial received through a third party must be cancelled through that third party.
• Current U.S. price and offer. The Premium page, as displayed on 2026-10-18, says: '$0 for 1 month, then $12.99 per month after. Offer only available if you haven't tried Premium before.' It lists Duo at $18.99 / month, Family at $21.99 / month and Student at $6.99 / month after the trial. Prices change; read the page before signing up.
• Refunds. The Terms of Use (last updated September 4, 2026) say: 'Unless otherwise required by law, we do not provide refunds or credits for any partial subscription periods, except as expressly stated in these Terms.' The Refund policy support page says you can cancel at any time and keep what you paid for, lists store-bought gift cards and Premium payments made through a partner as not refundable by Spotify (partner-billed payments go to the partner), and describes separate audiobook refund conditions. It does not describe a step-by-step request procedure. It also says: 'If you have experienced fraud, you may be eligible for a refund.'
• Contact. The Contact us page says 'We currently don't offer support by phone'; it offers a 'Message us' route to a support form and the Spotify Community forum.
• Charge you do not recognise. Spotify publishes help articles titled 'Canceled but still charged', 'Charged twice', 'Charged too much' and 'Charged for a free trial' under its billing help. If those do not resolve it, a dispute with your card issuer or bank is a separate route.

Complaints about billing practices can also go to the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov) or the attorney general of your state.

Who is Spotify: Spotify USA Inc., Spotify AB and Spotify Technology S.A.

For users in the United States, the Terms of Use name Spotify USA Inc., 4 World Trade Center, 150 Greenwich Street, New York, as the contracting company. The ultimate parent that files with the SEC is Spotify Technology S.A., incorporated in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Form 20-F for fiscal 2025, filed February 10, 2026); the 20-F gives the registered office and principal executive offices as 33 Boulevard Prince Henri, Luxembourg, and says the principal operational office is in Stockholm, Sweden (the 20-F also names New York as a principal operational office location). The 20-F names Spotify USA Inc. as the registrant's agent for U.S. federal securities law purposes. The footers of the Paid Subscription Terms and Terms of Use are marked '© 2026 Spotify AB'; the Terms themselves state that they are between the user and Spotify USA Inc.

The 20-F describes the company as 'the world's most popular audio streaming subscription service' and reports 751 million monthly active users and 290 million Premium Subscribers in 184 countries and territories as of December 31, 2025. These are company-reported figures and are not complaint data.

The Terms of Use say most disputes go to binding individual (not class) arbitration administered by National Arbitration and Mediation, with a 60-day informal resolution period first, and list exceptions such as small claims and intellectual-property disputes. The only general opt-out the Terms describe applies after a mass-arbitration mediation process ('within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the second global mediation session'); users may also reject a material change to the arbitration terms within thirty days of notice, which the Terms say is not an opt-out of arbitration altogether. The Terms do not describe a separate opt-out window at sign-up. Read the current text before relying on this summary.

Complaint record: our archive, BBB and Trustpilot as displayed on October 18, 2026

usacomplaints.com archive. We link 1 published post whose offender field is Spotify (dated 2012, about trouble cancelling an introductory subscription). A single post is not a measure of how many customers have had a problem.

BBB. BBB profile for Spotify USA Inc., 150 Greenwich St, New York: rating A-, not BBB Accredited; 543 total complaints in the last 3 years and 161 filed in the last 12 months; customer-review average 1.04 out of 5 from 73 reviews. BBB's rating and its review average are different measures. BBB's page states it publishes 1 out of every 5 complaints handled through conciliation. BBB file opened 2011-07-15; business start 2006-04-01; incorporated 2010-05-17 (raw page data).

Trustpilot. Page for www.spotify.com: 5,876 reviews (1,013 in the last 12 months); unclaimed profile; the page shows no score and states 'This company's rating is unavailable due to a breach of our guidelines'. Trustpilot says it does not fact-check reviews.

These figures come from different sources with different methods and are not added together.

Lawsuits disclosed in Spotify's 2025 annual report (royalty and copyright disputes)

The legal matters the 20-F describes concern music licensing and royalties, not consumer billing. Summaries below follow the filing's own words. The Mechanical Licensing Collective and Eight Mile Style dockets were opened on CourtListener on 2026-10-19; the other matters below rely on the filings and press reports named.

Mechanical Licensing Collective v. Spotify USA Inc. (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:24-cv-03809). Filed May 16, 2024; the MLC alleges Spotify USA Inc. improperly reported and underpaid royalties by treating Premium as a bundle that includes audiobook access. Docket as displayed on CourtListener on 2026-10-19: on January 29, 2025 the court granted Spotify's motion to dismiss and the clerk entered judgment (ECF Nos. 61-62; per Spotify's Form 20-F the court held that Premium is a bundle). On March 11, 2025 the court granted in part and denied in part the MLC's motion for reconsideration, vacated that judgment and reopened the case (ECF No. 74). On September 25, 2025 it granted the MLC leave to amend (ECF No. 87); the MLC filed a first amended complaint on October 1, 2025 (ECF No. 88) and Spotify filed its answer on October 24, 2025 (ECF No. 93). On September 1, 2026 the court denied the MLC's motion for a certificate of appealability (interlocutory appeal) (ECF No. 183). The case is in discovery: an order of October 9, 2026 (ECF No. 194) sets Local Rule 56.1 statements for November 17, 2026 and summary-judgment and Daubert pre-motion letters for December 11, 2026. No merits decision on the amended complaint appears on the docket as of 2026-10-19. Spotify's Form 6-K for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (filed 2026-08-04, Note 21), written before the September 1 denial, says the MLC 'has also sought permission' for an interlocutory appeal and that, if the MLC were entirely successful on its claim that Premium is not a bundle, 'the liability in relation to the period March 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026 would be approximately €473 million, plus potential penalties and interest, which we cannot reasonably estimate', adding that 'Any liability would be partially offset by direct deals with publishers.' (The 20-F gave €358 million for March 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025.) These are Spotify's disclosures of an exposure on the MLC's allegations, not a finding. We did not check whether the MLC has sought any other appellate relief after September 1, 2026.

Eight Mile Style, LLC v. Spotify USA Inc. (M.D. Tenn., No. 3:19-cv-00736). Filed August 21, 2019 by Eight Mile Style, LLC and Martin Affiliated, LLC (publishers of Eminem compositions) against Spotify USA Inc. and the Harry Fox Agency, with Spotify's third-party claims against Kobalt Music Publishing America. In a 62-page memorandum opinion of August 15, 2024 (Doc. 704) the court granted summary judgment to Spotify against Eight Mile Style's claims (it states that any decision regarding the Music Modernization Act is left for a future case with an appropriate plaintiff) and granted the Harry Fox Agency's motion; it also found that Kobalt owed Spotify indemnification, and denied Eight Mile Style's own motion. On September 6, 2024 (Doc. 721-722) the court certified a question concerning Spotify's claims against Kobalt for interlocutory appeal, entered judgment under Rule 54(b) on all claims except Spotify's claims against Kobalt for indemnification, breach of the 2016 agreement and anticipatory repudiation, and administratively closed the case. Both sides appealed to the Sixth Circuit (Nos. 24-5849 and 24-5894). On December 18, 2025 the Sixth Circuit, on the parties' stipulation to dismiss, dismissed the appeals under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b). The terms of any agreement between the parties are not stated in the court records we opened (CourtListener dockets and the orders, 2026-10-19), and Spotify's Form 20-F says only that the case was dismissed in December 2025. We did not verify the status of the remaining Spotify-Kobalt claims.

Capolongo v. Spotify USA Inc. (S.D.N.Y.). A proposed consumer class action filed in November 2025 by a self-described subscriber alleging that Spotify's Discovery Mode and algorithmic recommendations amount to paid placement ('pay-for-play'). Digital Music News reported on May 1, 2026 that Judge John G. Koeltl granted Spotify's motion to compel arbitration and that the class claims were dismissed. The docket was not opened by us on 2026-10-18; the allegations are the plaintiff's and Spotify's position is that the claims belong in arbitration.

Ferrick et al. v. Spotify USA Inc. (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:16-cv-8412). A putative class action alleging unlicensed reproduction and distribution of musical compositions; per the 20-F, the settlement was final and effective as of April 2019.

In June 2025 U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján sent a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson requesting an investigation into Spotify over the conversion of Premium subscriptions into higher-priced bundled subscriptions (Senator Blackburn's press release of June 20, 2025). That is a request by legislators, not an FTC investigation or finding. We did not search ftc.gov or state attorney general sites for Spotify enforcement actions on 2026-10-18 (the FTC site search could not be loaded), so this page makes no statement about whether any exist.

Is Spotify Legitimate?

Spotify Technology S.A. is an SEC registrant that files an annual report on Form 20-F (CIK 0001639920). Spotify USA Inc., the U.S. contracting company, publishes its New York address, Terms of Use and cancellation and refund pages (linked above), and has a BBB profile rated A- that is not accredited, with the complaint and review counts shown in the complaint-record section. Trustpilot displays no score for the page. Disputes about charges are handled through Spotify Support first; card-issuer disputes and state or federal consumer agencies are separate routes.

Court & Public Records

Company Relationships

• Subsidiary of: Spotify Technology S.A.

Frequently Asked Questions