Spotify wants to be yet another messaging platform, but its new DM system has a quirk that makes me hesitant to recommend it. Spotify used to be a non-identity based platform, but things changed once it added messaging. Now, the Spotify DM system is attaching account information to song links and putting it in front of users’ eyes. That means it can accidentally leak the name and profile picture of whoever shared a link, even if they didn’t intend to give out their account information, too. Thankfully there’s a way to make links more private, and to disable Spotify DMs altogether.
How Spotify is accidentally leaking users’ information
It all starts with tracking URLs. Many major companies on the web use these. They embed information at the end of a URL to track where clicks on it came from. Which website, which page, or in Spotify’s case, which user. If you’ve generated a Share link for a song or playlist in the past, it contained your user identity string at the end. And when someone accessed and acted on that link, by adding the song or playing it, your account information was saved in their account’s identity as a connection of sorts. Maybe a little invasive, but because users couldn’t do much with that information, it was mostly just a way for Spotify to track how often people were sharing music between each other.
Before, this happened in the background and no one really cared. But with the new Spotify DM feature, connections made via tracking links are suddenly being put front and center right before users’ eyes. As spotted by Reddit user u/sporoni122, these connections are now showing up in a “Suggested” section when using Spotify DMs, even if you just happened to click on a public link once and never heard of the person who shared it. Alternatively, you might have shared a link in the past, and could be shown account information for people who clicked on it.
Even if an account is public, I could see how this would be annoying. Imagine you share a song in a Discord server where you go by an anonymous name, but someone clicks on it and finds your Spotify account, where you might go by your real name. Bam, they suddenly know who you are.
Reddit user u/Reeceeboii added that Spotify is using this URL tracking behavior to populate a list of songs and playlists shared between two users even if they happened via third-party messaging services like WhatsApp.
How to remove trackers from links before sharing Spotify playlists
So, if you don’t want others to find your Spotify account through your shared songs, what do you do? Well, before posting in anonymous communities like Discord or X, try cleaning up your links first.
My colleagues and I have previously written about how you can remove tracking information from a URL automatically on iPhone, how you can use a Mac app to clean links without any effort, or how you can use an all-in one extension to get the job done regardless of platform. You can also use a website like Link Cleaner to clean up your links.
Or you can take the manual approach. In your Spotify link, remove everything at the end starting with the question mark.
What do you think so far?
So this tracked link:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74BUi79BzFKW7IVJBShrFD?si=28575ba800324
Becomes this clean link:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74BUi79BzFKW7IVJBShrFD
Here, the part with “si=“ is your identifier. Of course, if it’s a playlist you’re sharing, it will still show your name and your profile picture—that’s how the platform has always worked. So if you want to stay truly anonymous, you’ll want to keep your playlists private.
How to disable Spotify DMs
If you don’t see yourself using Spotify DMs, it might also be a good idea to just get rid of them entirely. You’ll probably still want to remove tracking information from your URLs before sharing, just for due diligence. But if you don’t want to worry about getting DMs on Spotify or having your account show up as a Suggested contact to strangers, you should also go to Settings > Privacy and social > Social features and disable Messages. That’ll opt you out of the DM feature altogether.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
Source: If You’ve Ever Shared a Spotify Link Publicly, You Need to Disable Spotify DMs
Robin Edgar
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