‘Join ICE today’: Spotify users absolutely revolt over ICE recruitment ads

Spotify users are absolutely losing it right now, and honestly, I can’t blame them.

People listening to the free version of Spotify, and even some Premium members, are suddenly being hit with deeply disturbing recruitment advertisements for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The reaction has been swift, severe, and is causing many users to delete the app and cancel their long-standing subscriptions in disgust.

This isn’t just a mildly annoying ad break; the content is what’s causing the major backlash and making the entire platform feel vile. One TikTok user, listening to her playlist on the free tier, recounted the horrifying experience. She said an ad break began with the jarring line: “‘I get an ad and it starts with, ‘millions of dangerous illegals are rampaging the streets. Join ICE today,’”.

I mean, imagine trying to just enjoy your music and then getting slammed with something that’s politically charged and frankly, fear-mongering. She quickly picked up her phone, “with a quickness and deleted the app”, and honestly, that’s a visceral reaction that tells you just how bad this is. It sounds like a total gut punch to the vibe, and it’s no wonder people are saying, “That ad is disgusting”.

Spotify is sending out ICE ads

Another user even caught a snippet of a different ICE advertisement, one that tried to reel people in with financial incentives instead of scare tactics. This ad pitched the agency as a mission to protect the country, stating: “Join the mission to protect America with bonuses up to $50,000 and generous benefits.”

While this version is less inflammatory than the first, it still highlights that Spotify is willingly accepting money to run politically and ethically fraught recruitment campaigns, which is a huge problem for its user base. People aren’t happy about their favorite streaming service supporting what many are calling “authoritarian anti democratic movements”. It’s easy to see when they won’t even show you a warrant because they act like goons.

The outrage isn’t just contained to a few angry posts; we’re seeing a massive, user-driven boycott that feels like it’s reaching a critical point. Users are posting screenshots of their canceled accounts and encouraging one another to migrate their beloved playlists over to competing services like Apple Music or Tidal. One comment noted that not only would they be moving away from what they see as a problematic platform, but that “your streaming quality will be higher with Apple Music,” adding a nice little tech-enthusiast jab to the whole affair.

For many, this was the absolute last straw. I’ve seen multiple users state this is why they are finally cancelling their subscriptions after years of loyalty. One Reddit user summed up the feeling perfectly: “cancelling my subscription the second I heard about this. cited that and the fact that they pay artists next to nothing to stream their music as my reason why”. We’re talking about people who’ve been with Spotify for a decade or more saying, “never again!!” That’s the kind of loyalty damage that feels like night and day for a major tech company.