I haven't used spotify for ~3 years and last week wanted to listen to some specific music, so i downloaded it. Within 20 minutes, a really really annoying audio ad came on and I went from thinking that this team has built a really great product since i've used it, to having a really negative opinion about them because the ad disrupted my flow as I was in the midst of a great hacking session.

Something that they could do differently that might be interesting, is to special case ad plays for new and returning users and slowly increase the quantity of ads that are played. This way my initial experience is very positive and as I get used to incorporating spotify into my workflow, I get more used to ads, and can decide whether I want to be a paying customer or use the product with ads. I wonder if anyone else has incorporated similar growth hacking strategies.