Now I have a problem with this statement in a vacuum.

Zero: I am based in Germany. So not as many dystopian laws and decisions as in the USA

First: Yes, Spotify bad, Hooray Jellyfin, ripping CDs and owning the media you have. Also good for the artists.

Second: I had ads played to me. But it only happened on podcasts.

Third: I had talked to the Spotify support: https://imgur.com/a/Ulis7Oe
(TLDR: Podcast publishers (e.g. LTT with their WANshow or Dallas Taylor with 20 Thousand Hertz) can decide if they want to play ads. They happened to me inbetween episodes)

So yeah. Now it would be very interesting what this random person encountered where.