⚠️ Author Beware (Again): Spotify Is Still Coming for Your Audiobooks — and This Time, It’s Direct

Aoibh Wood
Jul 22
3 min read

By Aoibh Wood

If you thought Spotify learned its lesson after the backlash to Findaway’s AI rights grab, think again.

Spotify is back — with a fresh coat of paint and the same bad intentions — and this time, they’re hiding it in the Spotify for Authors distribution agreement.

Yes, again.

🎣 The Bait: “Frictionless Distribution!”

Spotify’s new Spotify for Authors program promises indie authors a way to:

Distribute audiobooks easily
Collect royalties
Reach Spotify’s massive user base

But buried in the fine print is a dangerously broad content license that, once accepted, lets Spotify do much more than stream your audiobook.

🚨 The Switch: An Open Door to AI Training

Here’s what you’re granting them — straight from their Terms of Use:

“…an irrevocable, worldwide license to reproduce, make available, perform and display, translate, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, and otherwise use… by any means, method or technology, whether now known or hereafter created…”

Let’s decode that:

“Create derivative works” = They can remix your story however they want
“Any technology… hereafter created” = Including AI, now or in the future
“Irrevocable and sublicensable” = You can’t claw it back, and they can hand it off to someone else

And no, there’s no opt-out. There’s no AI clause at all. You’re handing them your work, and they’re free to use it however they like — even in ways they haven’t invented yet.

This is the very same language they tried to embed in the Findaway License a couple of years ago.

🧟‍♂️ The Sequel No One Asked For

Back in early 2023, authors discovered that Findaway Voices, Spotify’s audiobook distribution arm, had quietly updated their Terms of Service to include a clause allowing Apple and Spotify to:

“…use audiobooks to train models that support voice generation and machine learning.”

The backlash was immediate and fierce — and Findaway removed the clause.

But Spotify didn’t forget. They just got sneakier.

Now they’re trying again — this time directly through the Spotify for Authors platform, severing distribution from Findaway and bringing everything in-house, under their control, and under far looser public scrutiny.

🤖 What Could They Do With Your Audiobook?

Without ever telling you, Spotify (or one of their partners) could:

Transcribe your audiobook and use it to train AI voice models
Use your writing and narration to feed Spotify’s recommendation or generative systems
License or sell access to your data to third parties for AI training
Use your content to generate synthetic audiobooks in your voice or style

And since the license is irrevocable, you can’t undo it — even if they change their use case in the future.

🛑 This Isn’t Just “Bad Policy.” It’s a Pattern.

This is the second documented attempt in under two years to sneak AI training rights into an agreement with independent authors and narrators. Spotify is:

Testing where the line is.
Hoping you won’t notice.
Betting you won’t push back again.

Let’s prove them wrong — again.

🛡️ What You Can Do

Don’t opt in to Spotify for Authors without demanding clarity on AI usage
If you already have, submit a removal request
Add a statement of AI use restriction to your audiobook metadata and contracts
Share this information with other authors and narrators — loudly

✍️ Sample Rights Statement for Your Work

“This content may not be used for the training, testing, fine-tuning, or development of artificial intelligence or machine learning models without the explicit written consent of the author.”