After fully embracing Charli XCX’s Brat summer, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president has taken Harris’ connection to the pop singer one step further by sponsoring Spotify’s official “This is Charli XCX” playlist.
Listeners on Spotify’s free, ad-supposed tier will now see an ad running on the playlist stating that the content is presented by the Harris/Walz campaign — effectively promoting the campaign for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Spotify’s free users will see the ad on both mobile and desktop versions of the Spotify app.
The two-and-a-half hour, career-spanning playlist boasts some of Charli XCX’s best-known songs, including “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish, “Speed Drive” from the Barbie soundtrack and “Boom Clap” from 2014’s sucker.
According to Spotify’s advertising policy, the streaming service sells political ads in the U.S., U.K. and India only and has done so for a number of years.
The fine print states that ads are limited to those placed by candidates; political parties; political committees; any entity registered or reporting under any federal, state or local campaign finance law; or other entities sponsoring ads on behalf of any of the above-listed categories. The ads may feature a candidate for elected office; a current elected officeholder; or a ballot measure, proposition or initiative. It adds that the title sponsor (in this case, the Harris/Walz campaign) is not the only sponsor and other ads may be heard during a listening session.
The Harris/Walz ad began running at midnight on Monday (Aug. 19) and is slated to end on Sunday night (Aug. 25). Spotify did not respond to a question asking whether Charli XCX had to sign off on the ad.
Other U.S. political campaigns that have run ads on Spotify this year include those of Sherrod Brown, Eric Hovde, Sandy Pensler, Rick Scott, Elissa Slotkin and Tim Sheehy.
Though Charli XCX has not commented on the ad buy, the singer has previously declared her support for Harris. On July 21, the day President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris, the pop star posted “kamala IS brat” on X (formerly Twitter). The KamalaHQ X page has also leaned in, with the home page displaying “kamala hq” in the Brat album’s signature lime green color.
The 2024 Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday night at Chicago’s United Center with performances from artists including Jason Isbell, Mickey Guyton and James Taylor.