Pot calling kettle? Spotify upset by thousands of users selling streaming data to AI developers

Over 18,000 Spotify users have joined “Unwrapped,” a collective that pools and sells their streaming data to AI developers, earning $55,000 from their first data sale in June. The initiative represents a growing movement where users seek to monetize their personal data while building AI tools that offer deeper music insights than Spotify’s annual Wrapped feature provides.

The big picture: Users are no longer content waiting for Spotify to evolve its popular year-end recap feature, instead turning to AI-powered alternatives that can analyze their complete listening history for emotional patterns, mood tracking, and social comparisons with friends.

What you should know: The Unwrapped collective operates through Vana, a decentralized data platform that allows users to vote collectively on data sales to developers building novel music analysis tools.

• In June, 99.5% of the then-10,000 members voted to sell a portion of their artist preference data to Solo AI for $55,000.
• Each user earned approximately $5 in cryptocurrency tokens from the sale.
• The collective has since grown to over 18,000 members.

Spotify pushes back: The streaming giant sent a warning letter citing trademark concerns and developer policy violations, though Unwrapped developers claim they never received the communication.

• Spotify’s developer policy prohibits using the platform to build machine learning or AI models.
• The company also bans facilitating users’ sale of streaming data to third parties.
• A Spotify spokesperson said: “UnwrappedData.org is in violation of our Developer Terms which prohibit the collection, aggregation, and sale of Spotify user data to third parties.”

What they’re saying: Unwrapped developers defend users’ data ownership rights while privacy advocates express mixed views on data monetization.

• “When listeners choose to share or monetize their data together, they are not taking anything away from Spotify,” Unwrapped developers argued. “They are simply exercising digital self-determination.”
• Jacob Hoffman-Andrews from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group, noted: “Privacy isn’t a market commodity, it’s a fundamental right,” while acknowledging that “listeners should get to do what they want with their own information.”
• Anna Kazlauskas, co-founder of Vana, described the model as acting “like a labor union” where individual users gain collective bargaining power.

Technical challenges: Unwrapped faces significant operational hurdles that limit its growth potential.

• The platform can only add about 300 new users daily due to what developers claim is Spotify’s interference with data porting processes.
• Users must navigate cryptocurrency payments and wallet setup, creating barriers for mainstream adoption.
• The collective remains in an early launch phase with limited spots for new members.

Why this matters: The dispute highlights broader tensions over data ownership rights as users increasingly seek control over their personal information in the AI era.

• Critics suggest data pools like Unwrapped may never reach “critical mass” beyond niche decentralization enthusiasts.
• Kazlauskas warns that concentrated AI control by tech giants could lead to surveillance and manipulation: “A world where a single company controls AI is honestly really dystopian.”
• The movement coincides with emerging legislation like Utah’s Digital Choice Act, which requires real-time API access for user data.