V-DIG Audit — Spotify

Enterprise Technology Stack & Vendor Relationships

• Ownbackup Inc. stores Spotify user data in Israel. Spotify’s Korea-specific entrustment disclosure lists Ownbackup as storing “data backup (storage), management of data” in both Israel and the United States of America ¹.
• Liveperson Inc. routes Spotify customer support data through Israel. Spotify’s Korea-specific entrustment disclosure identifies Liveperson as a data processor with data processing locations including Israel, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, and the United States of America for customer support functions ¹.
• Spotify uses Google Cloud Platform as its exclusive cloud infrastructure provider. Since 2016, Spotify has migrated all on-premise data centers to GCP, with no alternative cloud provider in use ².
• Spotify has no registered Israeli subsidiary. The 2024 Form 20-F XBRL data enumerates Spotify AB (Sweden), Spotify USA Inc., Spotify Ltd (UK), Spotify GmbH (Germany), Spotify Spain SL, Spotify France SAS, Spotify Canada Inc., Spotify Australia Pty Ltd, and additional entities, with no Israeli jurisdiction appearing in the subsidiary list ³.
• Spotify maintains a local contact presence in Israel. The Israel-facing contact page (spotify.com/il-en/about-us/contact) lists Spotify Israel with a local phone number and [email protected] email address ⁴.
• Approximately 10 employees are based in Israel according to workforce data, consistent with a sales, marketing, or support function rather than technical operations ⁵.
• No Israeli cybersecurity vendors appear in Spotify’s disclosed vendor list, SEC filings, or engineering blog. No public evidence identified ³¹.

Surveillance, Biometrics & Retail Technology

• No public evidence identified of Spotify using facial recognition, biometric identification, gait analysis, or behavioral analytics technologies of Israeli origin, including products from Trigo, BriefCam, AnyVision/Oosto, or Trax ³¹.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify using Israeli-origin predictive policing, sentiment analysis, social media monitoring, or workforce surveillance tools in its platform operations ³¹.
• No public evidence identified of Israeli surveillance vendor relationships documented in Spotify’s vendor disclosures, SEC filings, or engineering blog ³¹.
• Spotify has no retail operations. The company operates no physical stores, and its core product is a digital audio streaming platform; the retail technology category is not applicable to Spotify’s business model.

Cloud Infrastructure, Data Residency & Sovereign Cloud Participation

• Google Cloud Platform’s Israeli cloud region (tel-aviv-1) is operational and part of Project Nimbus. Google Cloud was awarded Project Nimbus by the Israeli government in 2021 under a $1.2 billion contract to provide cloud services to the Israeli government and military ⁶⁷⁸.
• Project Nimbus explicitly covers the Israeli defense establishment. Multiple sources confirm the contract’s scope: the Israeli Finance Ministry announced the award to provide “the government, the defense establishment, and others with an all-encompassing cloud solution” ⁷⁸⁹. The Intercept reported that the contract includes provisions preventing Google from restricting Israeli government access ⁸.
• Spotify runs its entire cloud infrastructure on GCP, which has Israeli-local data center presence under Project Nimbus. Since 2016, Spotify has operated exclusively on Google Cloud Platform with no alternative provider ².
• Spotify does not have a direct contract with the Israeli government under Project Nimbus. No public evidence identifies Spotify as a named party to the Project Nimbus agreement ⁷.
• Spotify’s Korea-specific GCP disclosure lists data processing locations as Belgium, the United States, and Taiwan — not tel-aviv-1. Whether Spotify routes Israeli-user data specifically through GCP’s tel-aviv-1 region is not confirmed in public disclosures ¹.
• Spotify does not operate, lease, or co-locate data center infrastructure within Israel. No Israeli data center presence confirmed in SEC filings or corporate disclosures ³⁴.

Defence, Intelligence & Security Sector Technology Relationships

• Spotify hosts the IDF Mission Brief podcast — the official podcast of the Israel Defence Forces — on its platform. The podcast is available in the Spotify podcast directory ¹⁰. Confirmed episodes include “Operation Roaring Lion: Dismantling Iran’s Terror Leadership” (March 17, 2025) ¹¹ and “Faces of War: A Reservist’s Journey Two Years Later” (November 5, 2025) ¹². The podcast has 37 episodes over approximately three years, hosted by IDF International Spokesperson LTC Nadav Shoshani ¹³.
• Spotify’s Platform Rules do not specifically address official state military propaganda. The published rules cover dangerous content, hate content, harassment, misinformation, sexual content, and violent extremism, but contain no explicit provision addressing whether Spotify permits podcasts from official state military organizations ¹⁴.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify holding direct contracts, partnerships, or service agreements with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, ISA, Shin Bet, or other state security bodies ³. No Spotify contracts found in Israeli government procurement records or tender databases.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify developing, selling, licensing, or maintaining offensive cyber capabilities, zero-day exploit tools, or digital weapons systems ³.

AI, Algorithmic & Autonomous Systems

• Daniel Ek, Spotify’s controlling principal (co-founder, Executive Chairman effective January 1, 2026), has invested approximately €700 million in Helsing SE via his personal VC firm Prima Materia. Prima Materia led a €100 million investment in 2021 and a €600 million round in June 2025. Ek serves as Helsing chairman ¹⁵.
• Helsing is a German defense AI company developing AI for battlefield operations and manufacturing the HX-2 military drone. Helsing’s strategic investors include Saab AB, Rheinmetall AG, and Airbus SE, all confirmed in the June 2025 €600 million funding round ¹⁵.
• Saab has documented Israeli defense ministry relationships including Arrow-3 missile defense systems and Heron TP drones, and Airbus DS Airborne Solutions has a documented long-term strategic partnership with state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) ¹⁶¹⁷.
• Spotify’s only documented public response to the Helsing investment controversy is: “Spotify and Helsing are two totally separate companies.” Additional statements characterized Helsing’s efforts as “focused on Europe defending itself in Ukraine” and that Helsing “is not involved in Gaza” ¹⁶¹⁸.
• The EU EBU/Spotlight fact-check (November 28, 2025) rated the claim that “Helsing’s technology is deployed in Gaza” as not currently supported by public evidence. The article noted: “The mixed messaging in some of the communications of the boycott led to an incorrect link being drawn between Helsing activities and Israel” ¹⁸.
• Helsing’s own public statement affirms: “Our technology is deployed to European countries for deterrence and for defence against the Russian aggression in Ukraine only.” This statement does not address Helsing’s defense-adjacent investor relationships ¹⁸.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify providing AI, machine learning, computer vision, or autonomous decision-support systems directly to Israeli state, military, or security bodies ³.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify’s AI models being trained on surveillance-derived datasets from Israel or occupied territories ³.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify providing autonomous target generation, automated threat detection, or autonomous tracking systems to Israeli military or security forces ³.

Technology Ecosystem & R&D Footprint

• Spotify has no Israeli R&D centre, engineering office, or innovation lab. The approximately 10 employees in Israel per workforce data are consistent with a sales, marketing, or support function. Israel does not appear among the named office locations on Spotify’s Life at Spotify careers page, which lists Stockholm, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, New York, Toronto, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, São Paulo, Mexico City, Sydney, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, and Johannesburg — notably omitting Tel Aviv ¹⁹²⁰.
• Spotify acquired SoundBetter Ltd. in September 2019 from Israeli founders. SoundBetter is a music production marketplace co-founded by Shachar Gilad (CEO) and Itamar Yunger (CTO), both Israeli nationals. Gilad’s prior background includes Director of Product Marketing at Waves Audio (an Israeli audio software company) and product marketing at Apple ²¹²².
• Spotify divested SoundBetter back to its founders in October 2021. The acquisition price was undisclosed and not listed as material in Spotify’s annual report ²².
• Spotify has made no other acquisitions of Israeli-origin technology companies. No other Israeli acquisitions confirmed in Crunchbase, PitchBook, or Spotify’s SEC filings ³.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify making strategic investments in Israeli technology startups or venture funds beyond the SoundBetter acquisition and divestment ³.
• No public evidence identified of significant patent portfolios, licensing agreements, or co-development arrangements between Spotify and Israeli-domiciled entities or research institutions including Technion, Hebrew University, or Weizmann Institute ³.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Regulatory History

NGO and Academic Reports:

• Partner Communications Company Ltd. (PTNR) is listed in the UN OHCHR Business and Human Rights database under resolutions 31/36 and 53/25, with documented activities (e) [provision of services/utilities supporting settlements] and (g) [use of natural resources], entry #121 ²³. Spotify is not itself listed in the OHCHR database ²³.
• UN A/HRC/59/23 (Albanese Report, July 2, 2025) documents Project Nimbus, surveillance, AI, and data sovereignty provisions in Israeli law. The report addresses technology companies’ roles in the Israeli occupation economy but does not name Spotify as a defendant or named entity ²⁴.

Boycott and Divestment Campaigns:

• “No Music for Genocide” (NMFG) campaign launched September 2025, citing: “Israel’s accelerated genocide in Gaza; occupation and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank; apartheid within Israel/‘48; political repression of Pro-Palestine efforts around the globe; and the music industry’s own ties to weapons and crimes against humanity” ²⁵. Over 10,000 artists and labels were boycotting as of late 2025/2026, including Lorde, Björk, Massive Attack, Deerhoof, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Xiu Xiu, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sylvan Esso, Primal Scream, and Paramore ²⁶¹⁶.
• PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) formally endorsed the Spotify boycott on approximately February 24/25, 2026, citing four grounds: (1) Spotify’s launch via Partner Communications (UN OHCHR settlement-listed entity); (2) IDF Mission Brief podcast hosting; (3) Daniel Ek’s €700 million investment in Helsing (AI warfare with Israeli defense-adjacent investors Saab, Rheinmetall, Airbus/IAI); (4) ICE recruitment advertisements and Israeli Prison Service recruitment advertisements ²⁷.
• BDS Movement’s Spotify campaign page makes two specific demands: (1) Adopt intersectional ethical programming/advertising/sponsorship/partnership policy prohibiting platforming of companies/agencies complicit in human rights violations; (2) End all business with Partner Communications and all other Israeli companies complicit in apartheid, illegal occupation, and genocide ²⁸.
• Artist withdrawals confirmed. Massive Attack became the first major-label act to remove music from Spotify, followed by Deerhoof, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Xiu Xiu, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Kalahari Oyster Cult, Leah Senior, and others ²⁶¹⁶.
• Spotify Unwrapped consumer boycott campaign was launched by the Working Families Party, 50501 Movement, and Indivisible, timed to coincide with Spotify’s 2025 Wrapped campaign and targeting ICE advertisements, the Helsing investment, and artist royalty rates ²⁹.
• Spotify has not changed its advertising policies in response to documented concerns about ICE and Israeli Prison Service advertisements ²⁸³⁰.
• No public evidence identified of Spotify being named in Who Profits (whoprofits.org), AFSC investigate.afsc.org, “Don’t Buy Into Occupation” 2024/2025 company lists, or SOMO/PAX reports as a direct entity ²⁸²³.

Regulatory and Legal Actions:

• NYC Comptroller Brad Lander sent a letter to Spotify CEO/Board Chairman Daniel Ek on November 13, 2025, expressing fiduciary concerns about ICE advertisements on Spotify affecting NYC public pension fund investments. The letter posed five specific questions about Spotify’s ad policy review, reputational risk assessment, and artist/user engagement impact ³⁰.
• No regulatory inquiries, export control actions, sanctions-related investigations, or legal challenges involving Spotify’s technology sales or services to Israeli state entities have been publicly identified ³.

Distribution Relationship:

• Spotify launched in the Israeli market via Partner Communications Company Ltd. (PTNR) in October 2019. Partner Communications announced a multi-year distribution deal, pre-installing the Spotify app on Partner TV set-top boxes and offering Spotify Premium bundled subscriptions ³¹.
• Partner Communications Company Ltd. is listed in the UN OHCHR settlement database (activities e and g), creating a rebuttable presumption of material integration in settlement activity for Partner Communications’ operations ²³³².
• The current operational status of the Spotify–Partner Communications distribution deal is unconfirmed. No renewal, extension, or termination found in PTNR’s SEC filings (2021 filing checked; no post-2019 update found) or Spotify’s 2024 Form 20-F ³³².

Financial Performance:

• Spotify’s Q3 2025 financial results show no material impact from the boycott. Spotify reported over 700 million Monthly Active Users, 12% year-over-year subscriber growth, and 12% year-over-year revenue growth. Daniel Ek stated: “The business is healthy” ³³.
• Spotify’s Q4 2025 results (filed February 10, 2026) confirm continued strong performance, with Monthly Active Users reaching 751 million ³⁴.

End Notes