I sometimes listen to music on Spotify. There is a “thank you for listening to Spotify” ad there, which I have found weird since the first time I heard it. The feminine voice expressing the organization’s gratitude for the listeners’ preference for Spotify sounds moving and persuasive, but the content of the ad seems strange, in my opinion, because when she thanks people for listening to Spotify she mentions the possibility that they could have chosen a different type of media such as vinyls or 8-track tapes “if you knew what an 8-track tape looks like.” By enumerating obsolete choices (which she herself regards as defunct), she empties the respect toward the listener in the ad to such an extent that it almost feels offending. Or does it?
Huh? By the mere mention of 8-track tapes, she appears to be inviting persons of a particular cohort to place themselves into a usable demographic for Spotify to exploit, dunnit?
I’ve never heard it but if they mentioned only vinyl or 8-tracks I can see how it could be taken as smug or condescending, because even in the best case for Spotify, other digital formats are just as good in a different way because they have more permanence and a larger catalog (once you aggregate all sources of digital music into your media player.)
So the ad would be assuming you’re only using vinyl or 8-tracks or implying that owning your own digital music is just as obsolete.
The “if you knew what an 8-track looks like” definitely seems condescending, and shows they aren’t talking to anyone who would actually listen to them.
So only people born after 1985 would know what listen to Spotify? :dubious:
Beats me. I listen to Amazon unlimited music from the artist I want to hear (currently Allan Sherman. Sure, it sometimes spits out Dr. Seuss stories, but it’s a minor annoyance).
I meant to say that ‘so only people born after 1985 would be in the age range of Spotify’ in response to Big Ts claim that if you know what an 8 track tape is you wouldnt actually listen to a streaming service. I screwed up an edit.
Actually, the voice does mention the radio as well. But she continues with the vinyl and the 8-track tape, instead of say Youtube or MP3s.
I want to point out I enjoy the diversity and quality of the music on Spotify, but the ad sounds a bit weird and I thought it was just me (as usual :D).
Maybe Spotify has multiple ads and their algorithm had you pegged as a guy who listens to 8-Track music 
Riffing on 8-Tracks seems fairly safe and inoffensive. They were a fairly short lived media that, even when available, felt pretty goofy. I doubt they expect anyone to get upset by a “If you even know what they are” joke.
Yeah, I get that ad too and I agree that by the end of it, I feel like I’ve been insulted somehow. They congratulate you for choosing Spotify over the radio, vinyl, cassettes and 8 tracks. It’s like the implication in the ad is that spotify is a subpar music choice compared to radio, vinyl or tapes and so they’re thanking me for choosing the shitty one.
“Thanks for eating broccoli. No really, you could have had cake. You could have had baked alaska if you even knew what baked alaska looked like. But you chose broccoli. Thank you.”
It’s weird. My favorite spotify ads are when they say watch a short video to receive a half hour of adfree music and then a gremlin gets in the works and I hear a whole song from my playlist and then the voice cuts in again: “Thank you for watching - enjoy your half hour of adfree music.” Anytime spotify, anytime.