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11 Times Spotify Made Relationships Awkward and Complicated

Spotify has messed up more relationships than we realize.
Spotify has messed up more relationships than we realize.

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When Spotify reveals more about you than just your music taste.

Spotify has a funny way of amplifying relationship quirks, particularly when couples, families, and friends share login details to cut subscription costs. This arrangement can lead to one person’s music cutting off another’s. It also lets people snoop on your listening habits, exposing everything from musical guilty pleasures to not-so-secret flings.

Redditors shared some of their most memorable moments wherein Spotify became the trigger or the source of their relationship drama, and we’ve gathered the highlights. Let’s delve into these stories!

1. Heavy Metal Yoga

Doing yoga with metal music blaring.
Doing yoga with metal music blaring.

Unsuspecting yoga students were catapulted into a raging rock concert when heavy metal music unexpectedly burst from the speakers during Katie Grey’s yoga class. Grey initially blamed the sound system but secretly knew that the true cause was her partner playing his music via their shared Spotify account.

Grey took the blame and removed her partner from the account to prevent future disruptions.

2. “Oops, I Did It Again.”

Britney's album, Oops!... I Did It Again on Spotify.
Britney’s album, “Oops!… I Did It Again” on Spotify.

After parting ways with his ex due to her manipulative behavior – a revelation courtesy of therapy – u/3odxnextoi noticed her listening to a specific song on their shared Spotify Blend playlist.

“I went on it and saw that it was still updating regularly, and in her recent song updates was Britney Spears’ “Oops! I Did It Again.” So that means she’s listening to this song frequently enough that the algorithm picked it up and put it in the blend playlist for her,” says the user.

He noted some notable lyrics of the song:

“You see my problem is this; I’m dreaming away, wishing that heroes truly exist. I cry, watching the days. Can’t you see I’m a fool in so many ways. But to lose all my senses? That is just so typically me.

Oops, I did it again – I played with your heart, got lost in the game. Oops, you think I’m in love, that I’m sent from above! I’m not that innocent.”

The OP took it as a hint at her unrepentant ways, saying, “So yeah. Feels bad man.”

3. The Purr-fect Party Playlist

Meowing sounds invade a house party.
Meowing sounds invade a house party.

Cartoonist Nate Fakes shares a Spotify account with his family, including his 8-year-old daughter, who favors cat-meowing tracks.

While playing a Daily Mix playlist at a house party, guests were surprised to suddenly hear meowing between rock songs. The incident prompted laughs and amused looks from guests, to which Fakes humorously remarked, “It comes with the territory.”

4. To Use or Not to Use

Spotify Premium Family invitation. (From: Spotify)
Spotify Premium Family invitation. (From: Spotify)

After a breakup, u/dudewassupdude humorously described how his beloved Spotify account was “taken hostage” on his ex’s brother’s Family plan.

He details how his ex, who emotionally abused him, has begged him to come back for around a month after the breakup. This caused him to go no-contact. However, his Spotify account is stuck in his ex’s brother’s Family Premium.

“I really want my Spotify account back. It had years of my music taste/playlists, but it’s stuck on her brother’s family premium. I literally have no way to leave it; the only way is for him to unsubscribe and resubscribe,” says the OP.

The OP was torn between continuing to use his account or starting afresh. Since he wanted to avoid contact with his ex, he had two awkward choices. He could either ask his ex’s mother for help or ask for Spotify’s assistance and reveal they lied about his “family” status for the account.

5. Hijacked Tunes

When your girlfriend takes over your tunes on your morning commute.
When your girlfriend takes over your tunes on your morning commute.

Jennifer Ball’s love for Taylor Swift’s songs hilariously hijacks her boyfriend Rob’s morning commutes, replacing his rock anthems with songs from “Midnights.” The couple’s musical tug-of-war led to peeved phone calls from Rob, saying, “Excuse me, I’m listening to my music.”

The incident eventually ended with a much-needed account separation. Too late, though, as Swift and Miley Cyrus topped Rob’s year-end Spotify roundup, prompting him to block the said artists.

6. “Sounds Like a ‘You’ Problem, Babe.”

How someone treats his Spotify account can shows a lot about his character.
How someone treats his Spotify account can shows a lot about his character.

When u/Icantwriteforshit shared her Spotify account with her boyfriend, she didn’t expect it to reveal the negative dynamics of their relationship.

Given that both enjoyed listening to music frequently, the OP suggested having a schedule. When this didn’t work, the boyfriend insisted she prioritize his listening because “he doesn’t have his own account, so he should get more time.”

Ultimately, she created a new account for him and offered to cover the initial costs despite his ability to afford it, given his living situation. His reaction was angry and ungrateful, leading her to log him out of the account, stating, “Not doing this sh*t in 2023. I’m done being a pushover.”

7. The ‘Baby Shark’ Revenge

Baby Shark on Spotify.
Baby Shark on Spotify.

u/soccer–girl on Reddit had an arrangement to share access to various streaming platforms with her two sisters for a budget-friendly monthly fee of US$20. The setup worked well until the OP’s younger sister complained about her music preferences affecting her Spotify Wrapped.

“She brought it up with me and essentially told me to stop listening to Spotify so much because it was technically her account, and she didn’t want my songs to appear in her Spotify Wrapped. I told her that is not how our system works, and if she wanted to back out, she could,” the OP explained.

The disagreement led to a tit-for-tat exchange of using each other’s profiles on different streaming services.

In response, the OP took advantage of her WFH job to ensure “Baby Shark” dominated her sister’s Spotify. The song ended up being her most-played track and artist of the year, which meant she couldn’t share her Wrapped results on social media.

8. Bluegrass Blunder

The Sound of Bluegrass playlist on Spotify
The Sound of Bluegrass playlist on Spotify

Eighth-grade science teacher Jessica Duke stopped using Spotify for classroom music thanks to her husband Jared, who kept playing bluegrass songs on their shared Spotify account.

Duke shared that she would play lo-fi tracks for her students to help them concentrate. However, Jared often interrupted with his old-timey folk music featuring string instruments like banjos and fiddles, resulting in Jessica’s students making fun of her and ruining her efforts to seem cool.

To avoid further awkward interruptions, she switched over to YouTube instead.

9. The Playlist of Paranoia

You can apparently catch a cheater on Spotify.
You can apparently catch a cheater on Spotify.

In a post on the r/relationship_advice subreddit, u/kant-I-cant shared how his relationship was suffering due to a collaborative Spotify playlist shared between his girlfriend and her ex.

After a year of dating, he discovered the two had been updating the playlist with songs about longing and unrequited love, even adding a song he introduced to his girlfriend. Although his girlfriend deleted the playlist, it remains under the ex’s account, further fueling the OP’s insecurities.

“I know it is not on her Spotify anymore, but on his. The playlist changed names, but it is still there. Today, a song that I showed her is on that playlist, meaning she uploaded it. I am so tired of checking on that fucking playlist, I feel like I am crazy and annoying,” the user lamented.

The situation left the OP with an awkward dilemma of confronting his girlfriend without seeming obsessive while dealing with the possibility of unresolved feelings between them.

10. Message Sent

I Don't F*ck With You” by Big Sean on Spotify
I Don’t F*ck With You” by Big Sean on Spotify

u/curlycue turned to Spotify to express her feelings after a complicated breakup. Her rocky relationship with her ex was punctuated by breakups, make-ups, and ignored texts. Things took a turn when the man ended things abruptly after posting a photo on his IG showing himself spending time with another woman.

Early in their relationship, they had shared a love for a playlist she created, which he frequently listened to.

”When we first started seeing each other, we were making a long drive across town and I put on a playlist I had made of all cover music. He was so into it, that he went home and found the playlist on Spotify and started following it.” says the OP.

Post-breakup, she noticed he was still listening to the playlist.

To get back at him, she deleted and replaced all the songs with a single track – “I Don’t F*ck With You” by Big Sean – hoping to send a clear message about her feelings towards him.

11. “Do You Hear That?”

Man scared after hearing demonic sounds in his house.
Man scared after hearing demonic sounds in his house.

After a heated argument, u/Hotdogwater88888 wanted to get back at her boyfriend by scaring him. She used her phone to connect to their Bluetooth sound system and played realistic knocking and demonic sounds as he drifted off to sleep. Unaware of the prank, he investigated the noises but found nothing.

“I switched it up to demonic sounds, like growling and breathing and sh*t like that. It played for like 20 seconds before he perked up and was like, ‘Do you hear that?’ And I was acting like I was half asleep and just groaned and said ‘Huh?’” She says.

The next day, he texted her about the eerie sounds, insisting they were real. He sounded so spooked that the OP eventually gave in and told him it was all a joke.

“I’ve been dying thinking about the fact that he totally heard the knocking, but was paralyzed with fear. Maybe I’m evil. lol. But, the whole thing was just so funny to me and so petty.” says the OP.

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