[delecti]

You aren't paying to get rid of ads, you're paying to get music. Ads pay for the music, or money can. It's only paying to get rid of ads if you view the music as an inevitable outcome, and this change is Spotify asserting that's not the case.

[anoncake]

Since the free plan includes music, they obviously aren't paying to get it.

[delecti]

Dealing with ads is payment.

[anoncake]

No, payment is giving money to something. Spotify itself says the ad-infested plan is free.

[delecti]

Payment is the exchange of value. Your attention for their product.

[anoncake]

Emotionally manipulating people for profit, harming them not just by annoying them but also by impairing their ability to make rational decisions, is always wrong. And that's what advertising is.

If you sell yourself into slavery, you don't become a slave. If you use a product "in exchange for ads", you don't lose your right to protect yourself from them.