Spotify · Spotify Terms and Conditions

Irrevocable Worldwide User Content License with Moral Rights Waiver

High severity
Share 𝕏 Share in Share

What it is

When you post anything on Spotify — playlists, messages, feedback — you give Spotify a permanent, free, worldwide license to use, modify, and sublicense it in any way, and you give up your right to be credited as its author. This license cannot be revoked.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Any content you post to Spotify — including written feedback about a bug or a playlist you curated — can be used, sublicensed, and modified by Spotify or its business partners permanently and globally without compensating you. The moral rights waiver eliminates your ability to be credited as the creator or to object to distorted use of your content.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Delete Your Data
    Log into your Spotify account, navigate to Privacy Settings, and submit a data deletion request. Note that due to the irrevocable license, content already shared or sublicensed by Spotify may not be fully removed.

How other platforms handle this

Stash Medium

This Privacy Policy does not apply to anonymized or aggregated Customer data (i.e. information about our Customers that we combine together so that it no longer identifies or references an individual Customer). We may use anonymized or aggregate customer data for any business purpose, including to b...

LinkedIn Medium

We may use your personal data to improve, develop, and provide products and Services, develop and train artificial intelligence (AI) models, develop, provide, and personalize our Services, and gain insights with the help of AI, automated systems, and inferences, so that our Services can be more rele...

Shopify Medium

By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distri...

See all platforms with this clause type →
Need full compliance memos? See Professional →

Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

The irrevocability of this license means Spotify can continue using your content even after you delete it or close your account, and the moral rights waiver means you cannot demand attribution or object to how your content is used or modified.

View original clause language
you hereby grant to Spotify a non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, fully paid, irrevocable, worldwide license to reproduce, make available, perform and display, translate, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, and otherwise use any such User Content through any medium, whether alone or in combination with other Content or materials, in any manner and by any means, method or technology, whether now known or hereafter created, in connection with the Spotify Service. Where applicable and to the extent permitted under applicable law, you also agree to waive, and not to enforce, any "moral rights" or equivalent rights, such as your right to be identified as the author of any User Content, including Feedback, and your right to object to derogatory treatment of such User Content.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates GDPR Article 17 (right to erasure) and Article 7 (withdrawal of consent) for EU/EEA users, as the irrevocable license may conflict with data subjects' deletion rights — enforced by EU Data Protection Authorities (e.g., Irish DPC, as Spotify's EU headquarters is in Ireland). CCPA §1798.105 (right to delete personal information) similarly creates tension with the irrevocable license for California users. The Copyright Act (17 U.S.C.) governs the underlying IP transfer mechanics, and the Berne Convention's moral rights provisions (Article 6bis) are relevant for non-US users. FTC Act Section 5 may apply if the breadth of the license is not adequately disclosed at point of content submission.

🔒

Compliance intelligence locked

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

Watcher $9.99/mo Professional $149/mo

Watcher: regulatory citations. Professional: full compliance memo.

Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority over deceptive data and IP license disclosures under FTC Act Section 5, particularly where the scope of content licensing exceeds reasonable consumer expectations.
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    California's AG enforces CCPA deletion rights that may conflict with Spotify's irrevocable content license; other state AGs have authority over consumer protection violations related to undisclosed IP grants.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

EU AI Act
European Union
BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
COPPA
United States Federal
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
FCRA
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
GLBA
United States Federal
HIPAA
United States Federal
TCPA
United States Federal
UK GDPR
United Kingdom

Provision details

Document information
Document
Spotify Terms and Conditions
Entity
Spotify
Document last updated
April 16, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 6, 2026
Last verified
April 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002164
Document ID
CA-D-00035
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
fff9ada0dd9d5d2bcf2f4b4f7a7f968a1e624b16419763261d5e298d5f810910
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Spotify | Document: Spotify Terms and Conditions | Record: CA-P-002164
Captured: 2026-03-06 20:14:22 UTC | SHA-256: fff9ada0dd9d5d2b…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/spotify/spotify-terms-and-conditions/irrevocable-worldwide-user-content-license-with-moral-rights-waiver/
Accessed: April 28, 2026
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

Other provisions in this document