Three years ago, Spotify applied for a patent for a technology that can suggest music for the listener via audio recognition.
A possible example would be that Spotify hears that the listener is sad and suggests melancholic music.
The patent went through in January and now a large number of artists and organizations are going out and want to make Spotify renounce all future use of the technology.
According to the letter writers, the technology is potentially offensive, racist and discriminatory.
Questions are also asked about how sound monitoring would work in terms of safety and integrity.
"Music should be made for human contact, not for the benefit of profit-maximizing algorithms," the letter reads.
In a comment to the organization Access Now, one of the letter writers, Spotify replies:
"Spotify has never applied the technology described in the patent and we have no plans to do so.
Our development teams are constantly working to imagine and develop new technology in our ongoing innovation process.
Sometimes those innovations are implemented in our products and sometimes not. ”
The letter writers nevertheless want a public promise from Spotify to "never use, license, sell or monetize the recommendation technology."
Spotify has been searched for a comment.