Media

Spotify’s in trouble for Lily Allen song title

Popular streaming music company Spotify just got f- -ked by British pop star Lily Allen.

The music start-up, favored by celebrities like Britney Spears and Facebook’s Sean Parker, was smacked down on Wednesday by the UK’s

Advertising Standards Authority for promoting Allen’s 2009 hit single, “F- -k You” in an email.

“Have you heard this song by Lily Allen? Give it a try. F- -k You,” the promotional email said.

After receiving a single complaint about the email, the ASA ordered Spotify to stop advertising the song “in its current form.” It also warned the Swedish company to keep an eye out for offensive words, even if in song titles, in future ads.

There are more than a dozen songs with the word “f- -k” in the title. It’s unclear if Spotify will be allowed to advertise Allen’s song, or other potentially offensive songs, by replacing some of the letters with symbols.

Officials from Spotify, which has more than 6 million paying subscribers, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

To be sure, the musical newbie doesn’t want to f- -k with the ASA, which has the power to fine repeat offenders or revoke licenses. They have put companies out of business before.

Tech giant Apple has also been in ASA’s crosshairs, including once in 2008 for claiming its iPhone could access “all of the Internet,” which ASA deemed to be untrue due to its lack of support for plug-ins like Flash. Apple was ordered to pull the ads.