# Spotify FOSS fund

**URL:** <https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028>\
**Category:** Funding Index\
**Created:** [April 25, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028 "2022-04-25T14:02:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![camille](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/camille/32/110_2.png) [@camille](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/camille)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/1 "2022-04-25T14:02:20Z")

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Hi all,

(Not sure this is the right place to post this)

Spotify has announced their FOSS fund to support some of their dependencies. Projects chosen by their engineers will be announced in May.

> **[Announcing the Spotify FOSS Fund](https://engineering.atspotify.com/2022/04/announcing-the-spotify-foss-fund/)**
>
> TLDR: Spotify is starting a Free and Open Source Software Fund (FOSS Fund) to pay maintainers of independent projects. This new initiative is about giving back to open source developers and is one of the ways we are investing in a more sustainable...

Cheers, Camille

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**Author:** ![RichardLitt](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/richardlitt/32/8_2.png) [@RichardLitt](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/RichardLitt)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/2 "2022-04-25T14:15:12Z")

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Definitely the right space! This is great!

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**Author:** ![JoshuaPoddoku](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/joshuapoddoku/32/1351_2.png) [@JoshuaPoddoku](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/JoshuaPoddoku)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/3 "2022-04-25T14:19:42Z")

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This looks interesting! Without third-party involvement, the company connects with Maintainers. A good step toward sustainability.

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**Author:** ![liviagouvea](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/liviagouvea/32/496_2.png) [@liviagouvea](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/liviagouvea)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/4 "2022-04-25T16:26:33Z")

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I couldn’t find how to apply a project for the fund. Anybody knows?

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**Author:** ![camille](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/camille/32/110_2.png) [@camille](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/camille)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/5 "2022-04-25T16:32:59Z")

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From what I understand, the projects are chosen internally: nominated by their staff and selected by the fund committee.

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**Author:** ![JoshuaPoddoku](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/joshuapoddoku/32/1351_2.png) [@JoshuaPoddoku](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/JoshuaPoddoku)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/6 "2022-04-25T16:33:15Z")

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I guess they’re funding the projects that are recommended or used by Engineering team!

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**Author:** ![jwf](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/jwf/32/1093_2.png) [@jwf](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/jwf)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 1:20am UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/7 "2022-04-26T01:20:53Z")

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It would be wonderful if Spotify used this as a chance to finally [give back](https://metabrainz.org/supporters) to open source dependencies they use in their core product, like [MusicBrainz data](https://musicbrainz.org/doc/About).

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**Author:** ![RichardLitt](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/richardlitt/32/8_2.png) [@RichardLitt](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/RichardLitt)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 9:27am UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/8 "2022-04-26T09:27:38Z")

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There’s more that could be asked, too.

> We will target projects that are independent, actively maintained, and aligned with our company values.

What do they mean by independent? Kubernetes is listed as a project which isn’t - but it’s still an open source project that needs funds, even if CNCF runs that aspect for them (unless I am missing something). I also don’t know what they mean by “actively maintained”, or “aligned with our company values”. Most OSS code does not have a values statement by which it can be judged. Spotify itself has a [checkered history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify#Criticism) - including with funding. According to NYT, only 13k out of 7 million musicians received over $50k in 2020 ([Wikipedia NYT Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify#cite_note-12)).

> We also want to be sure to provide this support to important dependencies in our stack. To do this, we will collect dependencies across our internal repositories to map the most widely used third-party projects.

I wonder how far down the stack they are going.

Anyone know if Per Ploug (@DuaneOBrien ?) would be willing to talk to us about this?

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**Author:** ![JoshuaPoddoku](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/joshuapoddoku/32/1351_2.png) [@JoshuaPoddoku](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/JoshuaPoddoku)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/9 "2022-04-26T21:26:23Z")

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I completely agree that they should expand more on “actively maintained” repositories. In fact, it should not be limited. I’m trying to connect with Per Ploug and post here if there’s any update.

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**Author:** ![pkafei](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/pkafei/32/654_2.png) [@pkafei](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/pkafei)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/spotify-foss-fund/1028/10 "2022-04-30T18:16:47Z")

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Glad that more companies are funding open source projects. I wonder if we can see a future where certain open source projects can act as the R&D center of major corporations like Spotify. This could be a win-win relationship between contributors who want to “scratch an itch” and companies with the financial resources but not the bandwidth to explore new ideas.