Working Families Party, 50501 Movement And Indivisible Launch Spotify! Unwrapped to Protest Spotify’s Refusal to Drop Ads for ICE

Spotify’s annual Wrapped rollout usually marks a celebration of music, creativity and the communities that power the platform. This year, however, the festivities come with increasing backlash as artists, organizers and listeners confront the company’s decision to keep U.S. ICE recruitment ads live. That tension sets the stage for Spotify! Unwrapped, a new digital protest that reframes the streaming giant’s signature campaign into a call for accountability.

Spotify began airing ICE recruitment ads over this summer, prompting immediate objections from immigrant advocates and subscribers who encountered them. Instead of reversing course, the company publicly defended the ads and pointed to its U.S. advertising policy, even as platforms like YouTube, Max, Hulu and Pandora distanced themselves from similar placements. Spotify remains the only major service to openly justify keeping the recruitment spots, and organizers say that stance makes this year’s Wrapped impossible to separate from the harm they believe the ads perpetuate.

The Working Families Party, the 50501 Movement and Indivisible teamed up to launch Spotify! Unwrapped, a digital toolkit designed to flip Wrapped’s familiar visual format into a vehicle for protest. The toolkit offers alternative graphics that mimic the style of Wrapped while urging users to call out Spotify’s decision, share posts demanding the removal of ICE ads and highlight the communities most affected. Nelini Stamp, Director of Strategy for the Working Families Party, said the project challenges Spotify’s attempt to “celebrate community, culture and creativity” while platforming ICE’s recruitment efforts. Glo Sahay of the 50501 Movement echoed that sentiment, saying this year’s “UN-wrapping” encourages listeners to expose what they view as corporate greed and disregard for artists. Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin went further, accusing the company of amplifying authoritarian politics by hosting ads for an agency “tearing families apart.”

Spotify! Unwrapped encourages supporters to download the graphics at SpotifyUnwrapped.net, share them across social media and participate in a coordinated call for the company to drop ICE recruitment ads immediately. Organizers also emphasize one final step for anyone who wants to escalate the pressure: cancel Spotify and join the growing movement demanding accountability.