Spotify Is Blocking Porn That Rises to Top of Podcasts

Spotify says it has cut down on the number of explicit porn accounts on its video platform after they kept rising to the top of feeds. The company denies that its new creator monetization program gave any money to these supposed porn accounts, which implies your best option for paid personalized porn is still OnlyFans.

If you’ve found any strange images of porn showing up in your Spotify searches, you’re not alone. Bloomberg reported that searching for podcasts on managerial advice also pulled up an account for podcasting porn. The programming in question included an image of Ghostface from the Scream franchise as a cover. Some porn accounts were making waves in the top 15 shows of normally innocent categories as TV and film, according to Bloomberg.

In a statement, a Spotify spokesperson told Gizmodo, “As part of our platform rules, we do not allow sexually explicit material on our platform,” adding that the offending material has been removed. Bloomberg suggested some of these porn accounts may have been enticed to the platform by the sight of green, and not just of Spotify’s logo. The platform has been promoting a video monetization scheme for podcasters and music video creators. Video makers who sign up for the Spotify Partner Program and are approved can make money through a share in ad revenue, podcast subscriptions, and from payouts based on how many people watched their content.

A Spotify spokesperson told Gizmodo that none of the supposed porn accounts could have been members of the Spotify Partner Program and weren’t making any money via ads. Those who want to join the partner program have to meet a threshold of 10,000 streamed hours on Spotify in 30 days and have to have been streamed by 2,000 unique Spotify users in that time. The company said none of those accounts met that threshold.

“Even if they are approved and they upload sexually explicit content, we monitor it and can immediately take it down,’ the spokesperson said.

Porn has surfaced in users’ Spotify searches before. Both in 2024 and earlier this year, some users posted NSFW examples on Reddit. These appeared before the start of the partner program. Spotify claimed it removed accounts that violated its safety and privacy rules against “sexually explicit content.”

We conducted our own search of Spotify, and found some accounts offering the dulcet tones of “Blowjob Audio Porn.” We could easily find videos with explicit thumbnails that pointed to porn, but only when actually searching for it. There were no examples of it when scrolling through the top 15 tracks of major subjects ranging from “TV” to “video games.”

Content moderation is always difficult, and Spotify isn’t alone in a fight to keep porn off its platform. Those looking to showcase porn and found themselves restricted on Tiktok or YouTube may simply be following the money. Spotify claimed video podcast consumption is on the rise. Some creators supposedly made $10,000 or more in monthly revenue in the few months since the programs’ launch.

But if you’re truly set on monetizing sex, why go through the hassle of avoiding Spotify’s censors? We admire the hustle, but perhaps we can keep Spotify as the place for more family-friendly topics, like Joe Rogan’s regular misinfo-a-thons. Besides Spotify is busy dealing with other scandals, like alleged human trafficker Andrew Tate’s podcast about “pimping hoes.” The platform recently removed Tate’s podcast after the administration of President Donald Trump returned the self-described misogynist to the U.S., helping him avoid prosecution in Romania.