Spotify has enraged subscribers after announcing its second price hike for Premium subscriptions in a year, affecting hundreds of millions who use the service.
The app, launched in 2008, has 615 million users worldwide, many of whom use the site’s free features – but the company says 236 million subscribers opt for its paid service: Spotify Premium.
Premium comes with several perks – including a new AI playlist feature – though mainly ensures you don’t get any pesky ads amid the music.
But it does involve an increasingly large sum being taken from your bank account each month, as do other entertainment subscriptions such as Netflix, Disney+ and Apple Music.
Understandably, many will be considering new purchases carefully – while some current subscribers might be wondering if they’d rather save the cash.
Belinda wrote on X: ‘Cancelled my Spotify premium because the price hike was ridiculous, anyway I’ll be trying Apple music for three months, maybe I’ll come crawling back later.’
So, what exactly does Spotify Premium cost? And what do you get for your money?
How much is Spotify Premium?
Spotify Premium will soon cost £12.99 per month in the UK for an Individual account, going up by £1 from £11.99 per month.
The Duo subscription will now cost £17.99 and offers two accounts.
There’s also a Family option that goes up to £21.99 per month and gives you six Premium accounts.
If you’ve never had one before, you can see if you like it with a three-month free trial that can be cancelled anytime.
The Student account for people attending university remains the same at £5.99 per month.
Spotify said the new pricing will come into effect the date a user is billed in November, saying: ‘As we continue innovating and enhancing the value we deliver, we periodically update our pricing to reflect local market conditions and economic factors, ensuring our service remains unparalleled.’
Those already on a free trial will be given one month at the original advertised price, before also being moved onto the higher rate.
What do you get with Spotify Premium?
Spotify Premium essentially allows you to use Spotify as your own music library.
The Free version lets you listen to albums and playlists on shuffle mode – but generally speaking, you only get six opportunities per hour to skip songs you don’t like.
Ads play during listening sessions, which is the price you pay for the free music.
Spotify Free also doesn’t allow you to download your favourite tracks for offline listening.
With Premium, you can listen to whatever song you like, and can download any tracks to your ‘Liked Songs’ and listen to them offline as well as on, without any ads at all.
If you’re listening to an album or playlist, you have ‘unlimited skips’ so you can find a song you like.
Both options allow you to discover new music, with a homepage on the app that provides a variety of curated playlists.
Don’t care about music all that much, but just want Spotify for the podcasts?
Both options allow you to listen to podcasts, but unfortunately it’ll be tough to escape ads for Free or Premium users – if the host embeds ads or sponsorship messaging into their content.
Spotify Premium also now comes with an AI DJ tool, which picks songs for you, based on its knowledge of your favourites.
The tool also provides commentary in a ‘stunningly realistic voice’.
Is Spotify Premium worth the cost?
Overall, it’s up to you how much you want to spend on Spotify if anything.
If you’re a casual listener, are happy to listen to any songs it plays for you, and regular ads won’t make you burn up in a fiery rage, then Free should work fine for you.
If you want to listen offline, skip songs you don’t enjoy, and often find that ads interrupting your entertainment DO make you burn up in a fiery rage, then Premium might tempt you.
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