It seems that being a worship musician is becoming more and more difficult in these days, and what happened today is the latest example.

When I heard that Spotify had a tool that allows anyone to create ads, I initially had a positive outlook about it. That is, until I attempted to use the Spotify Ad Studio, as it’s called, to promote this song. The ad got rejected, and it wasn’t for any legitimate reason. Here’s the text of the rejection email:

Your ad wasn't approved for the following reasons: 

Reason
Ads promoting or referencing religious products / services are prohibited.

According to the First Amendment to the US Constitution (emphasis added):

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Because Spotify has a monopoly share (>50%) of the streaming market, the damage they can do to religious freedom in the private sector is just as much as if not more than what the government can do. We therefore urge Spotify to remove this restriction. Thanks in advance.