Seeking Clarification: App Denied for "Integration with Another Service"

[LunarEchoes]

After waiting over a month for my quota extension request, my app was denied with the following explanation:

The product or service is integrated with streams or content from another service.

My app, Scrobblify, is a personal project that takes listening history metadata (scrobbles) from Last.fm to create Spotify playlists. Here’s how it works:

• It retrieves metadata from Last.fm (e.g., track titles, artists, and play counts).
• No streams or audio content are used or integrated between Spotify and Last.fm—only metadata is retrieved from Last.fm, and all playlist creation is done through Spotify’s API.

My Questions:

1. Does Spotify consider metadata from external services, like Last.fm, as "integration with another service"?
2. If yes, how does this apply to metadata that is not content or streams?
3. Are there examples of similar apps that have been approved?
   • I’ve seen tools that import CSV files or external recommendations into Spotify. How are these different?

To be honest, I’m quite surprised by this decision. I don’t believe the app was evaluated properly, as it adheres to Spotify’s API Terms by:

• Only using Spotify APIs for authentication, search, and playlist creation.
• Not integrating streams or modifying Spotify’s content.
• Attributing metadata with appropriate links and attributions to Spotify.

This is my first public app, and I’ve put a lot of effort into learning and building it. I’m happy to accept feedback if I’ve misunderstood something, but this feels like a misunderstanding.

If anyone has experienced similar issues or can provide more info for my use case, I’d appreciate it.

The only options I can see going forward is to just forget about the whole project or resubmit and expect different results, I don't see how I can explain myself any differently.

[Ximzend]

Hi @LunarEchoes

Thanks for your question and for sharing the details. I understand this must be frustrating after all the work you put in.  

Spotify likely considers metadata from services like Last.fm as integration with another service. Even though it’s not streams or audio, the use of external data through an automated process might fall under this rule.  

Some apps that import CSV files or let users manually input data don’t rely on an automated connection, which might explain why they are approved.  

I hope this answers your question. Don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have any.

Cheers,