Spotify faces potential VLOP classification under EU Digital Services Act

Kostas Arvanitis, Vice President of the European Left and MEP, has submitted a formal inquiry to the European Commission regarding the potential classification of Spotify as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Arvanitis argues that Spotify’s role has expanded beyond music streaming to include podcasts, audiobooks, and user-generated text, images, and video. This diverse content is distributed via algorithmic systems, necessitating greater transparency and accountability. While Spotify reports 751 million monthly active users globally, it is not currently listed as a VLOP by the European Commission. Such a designation would impose stricter obligations on the platform regarding recommendation systems, systemic risk assessments, and oversight to protect the rights and visibility of content creators.