{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist","title":"187. Why Spotify Is Failing Independent Podcasters Like Me: a Public Service Announcement","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":802,"description":"UPDATE: After escalating the issue several times and ways, Spotify FINALLY reinstated the missing episodes and added my podcast to their \"allowlist\" so my theme song won't be flagged again. However, I'm leaving this up to explain what happened; this issue is still affecting other podcasters, and the resolution process is deeply flawed. - Stephanie, late November 2025ORIGINAL:In this special public service announcement episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on a frustrating battle with Spotify that's threatening the very soul of my podcast - its theme song. After three years and 180+ episodes of using \"Half Awake\" by Joey Pecoraro (which I legally licensed back in 2021), Spotify's AI suddenly started flagging my episodes for copyright infringement. The story of how this song became part of my podcast is deeply personal - it came to me through creative inspiration while planning the show, and Joey graciously agreed to let me use it. Now Spotify wants to force me to manually appeal every single episode going forward, despite my valid license. And there’s no guarantee of prompt resolution; in fact, I’m still waiting on replies more than a week after submitting appeals.Their customer service essentially told me to accept this new weekly homework or lose my Spotify audience. I explore why this matters for the entire podcasting ecosystem, especially as Spotify pushes to become a major hosting platform while simultaneously failing to support creators who legally use music. This isn't just about my inconvenience - it's about a platform that profits from our content refusing to implement basic systems to verify licensing agreements, potentially silencing smaller voices who can't fight back.Since this episode was recorded, Spotify has still yet to reinstate episodes 181, 182, or 184. It reinstated episode 180 after successful completion of the appeals process, but has ignored my appeals on these other 3 episodes. Episodes 183, 185, and 186 appear unaffected, while the future...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/7R2fJL6ksh0-aqhZGIKVghpF0n5-RelfaD139dcIBCQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI1NzQ0LzE2NDQy/NzA3NjktYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}