Third-party apps built with Spotify’s Web API will no longer be able to access some Spotify features, including song and artist recommendations, the company announced in a developer blog post on Wednesday. Spotify appears to be restricting third-party developers from building AI apps using listener data.
A Spotify spokesperson explained that these changes are part of their efforts to address security challenges that many companies face today. The company is particularly concerned about developers who might be scraping data from their platform.
The blocked features include:
- Song and artist recommendations
- Audio Analysis (information about track structure and rhythm)
- Audio Features (details about song characteristics like “danceability” and energy)
- Access to algorithmically-created playlists
The developer community has responded with frustration to these changes. Many developers argue that this isn’t about security but rather about protecting Spotify’s AI ambitions. Some developers who weren’t even building AI-related apps will also lose access to these features.
Spotify has been actively developing its own AI music solutions. The company launched an AI DJ feature last year and has recently expanded its AI playlist feature to users in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.
These restrictions only affect developers with basic API access. Official Spotify partners and developers who previously received special access extensions can still use these features. However, Spotify didn’t inform the developer community about these changes.
The move suggests Spotify is protecting its data from being used to train competitive AI models that could replicate its recommendation systems as the company continues to develop its own AI-powered features for music discovery and playlist creation.
