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should spotify withdraw their premium feature?  

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should spotify withdraw their premium feature?  

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pros

free apps

plays songs in order

download to listen offline

cons

too much ads

limitation skips

low sound quality

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headquarters - four worlds trade center, 150 green swich street, 62 floor, new york, NY 10007- 15 offices

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source 1: spotify free plan compared to premium 

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source 1: spotify free plan compared to premium 

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Spotify is one of the most popular streaming services in the world. It has a massive liberty of music as well as a sizeable library of podcasts.

With Spotify Premium, you can download an unlimited number of tracks and podcasts for online listening.

You may be spending money in the form of data usage rather than a Premium subscription.

On the desktop Spotify app, there are fewer discrepancies between Free Spotify and Spotify Premium. you can select any specific song you want with unlimited skips regardless of whether you have Spotify Premium or not.

However, you are still subjected to ads on Free Spotify with the desktop app, and you cannot download music for offline listening on your computer unless you have Spotify Premium.

One of the best things about Spotify is the way it promotes the discovery of new music. The “Discover Weekly” and “Daily Mix” playlists are updated frequently with new suggestions.

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is one of the most popular streaming services in the world. It has a massive library of music as well as a sizeable library of podcasts. In this Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium breakdown, we're going to see if the paid version is worth the monthly fee or if you're better off bearing through the ads to save money. You may even discover some features of Spotify along the way.
Editor's note: This Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium article was updated on March 5, 2024, to clarify some language and ensure the timeliness of the information within.

The listening experience with Free Spotify is unpleasant

There are some key functional differences between Free Spotify and Spotify Premium, particularly with the mobile interface. With the free mobile version, you can only skip six tracks per hour, whereas with Premium, you can skip as many as you'd like. Skip limits can put a damper on things when you repeatedly aren't in the mood for the algorithm's song picks, but it's a forgivable inconvenience.

Another drawback to Free Spotify on mobile: you can't select specific songs for playback. Rather, you can select an album or a playlist and shuffle the songs in it. This can get annoying when you have an earworm and just to listen to that particular song. With Premium, you can listen to that song over and over to your little heart's content. This also completely destroys the linear experience of listening to a complete album in order.

There is a caveat with Free Spotify, however; you select songs for playback with unlimited skips, so long as you are listening to them from one of Spotify's 15 curated playlists under "Made for You" on the "Home" page. These include popular editorial playlists, such as "RapCaviar" and "Alternative R&B," and playlists algorithmically tailored to your listening preferences, such as "Discover Weekly," "Daily Mix," and "Release Radar." The songs on these playlists change frequently. If there's a blue shuffle icon next to the playlist title, you may only shuffle songs.

Get ready for annoying ads with Free Spotify

The absolute worst thing about Free Spotify is how frequently ads interrupt playback. The advertisements are incredibly annoying and are surely designed to be that way. Many of them feature the most irritating noises you could imagine, such as traffic horns overlaid with a voice saying things like, "Is this annoying? If you buy Premium, you won't have to listen to this anymore." I'll give them credit because this tactic of being obnoxious works pretty well: paying for Spotify Premium is almost worth it for the sole purpose of removing these ads. Of course, for anyone with sensory processing sensitivities, this marketing tactic can be more than just irritating and can cause genuine distress.

Listen offline with Spotify Premium

With Spotify Premium, you can download an unlimited number of tracks and podcasts for offline listening. This is great for long flights or if you want to turn off your data while away from home. With Free Spotify, you aren't able to download any music or podcasts, so you may be spending money in the form of data usage rather than a Premium subscription.

On the desktop Spotify app, there are fewer discrepancies between Free Spotify and Spotify Premium. For example, on the desktop app, you can select any specific song you want with unlimited skips regardless of whether you have Spotify Premium or not. However, you are still subjected to ads on Free Spotify with the desktop app, and you cannot download music for offline listening on your computer unless you have Spotify Premium.

Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium: Discovery features are identical

One of the best things about Spotify is the way it promotes the discovery of new music. This is apparent in its algorithmically produced playlists, designed to suggest styles of music that align with your listening history. The "Discover Weekly" and "Daily Mix" playlists are updated frequently with new suggestions. Perhaps you really dislike a recommended song or artist; you can press a button telling it to avoid a certain type of music or to blacklist that artist from your profile. The "Release Radar" playlist churns out new releases from artists you follow and updates weekly.

Spotify has a large variety of genres, moods, and other categories under the Browse tab, and here, you can listen to its editorial playlists to discover new music. It will also recommend editorial playlists based on your listening activity, and it will algorithmically create "Radio" playlists for every song, artist, album, and playlist.

When you create a new playlist, the Spotify algorithm suggests songs for you based on the title of your playlist as well as the songs you've already put into it. Regardless of if you've paid for Spotify Premium, these discovery features are available and very helpful.

There are different priced memberships for Premium, but Free is free

Spotify offers four different types of Premium subscriptions, and some of them are really great deals. First, there is the Spotify Premium Individual subscription, which is $10.99/month. This allows access to all the Premium features, such as no ad interruptions, on-demand playback, and downloading tracks for offline listening. If you're a full-time student at a university or college, you should be eligible for the Premium Student subscription, which is $5.99/month. Not only does this afford you all the same features of Spotify Premium, but if you are a student in the United States, it also includes a subscription to SHOWTIME and the ad-supported version of Hulu.

If you want to share a Premium account with your live-in partner, you can get Premium Duo. It costs $14.99/month, and both you and your partner will have your own separate accounts with all the same functionality as an individual account.

Spotify Premium Family is very similar to Premium Duo, as all members must live at the same address. Premium Family, though, can support up to six separate accounts and costs $16.99/month. Parents can choose to block explicit music for specific members, and children can use their Premium Family account on the Spotify Kids app.

All of these subscription options are very cool, but ultimately, when it comes down to it, free is free. If the absence of needing to fork over a portion of your paycheck every month is enough motivation to deal with the ads, lack of features, and inconvenience of Free Spotify, then Free Spotify is going to be the option for you. But remember, you can cancel your Premium subscription at any time.

Free or paid, enjoy the same social features

Music has always been a social art form, but things have changed quite a bit since the days when my dad would buy the latest Neil Young record on vinyl and sit around the turntable with his friends. Of course, people still get together to listen to music nowadays, but we no longer have to be in the same physical space to appreciate some of the social benefits of music. Spotify uses several different tools on its platform to encourage music sharing, and you don't need to buy Premium to access any of them.

Enjoy collaborative playlists on Spotify

To create collaborative playlists, press the three-dot symbol at the top-right of your screen (mobile) or next to the playlist title (desktop), and select "Collaborative Playlist." Then, share the playlist link with your friends. This will let them add and remove songs to and from it. Anybody with the link may do so, and it's private unless someone gets the link. Collaborative playlists are great for when you and your roommates are throwing a party or you're planning a road trip with friends. They're even good for when you just want to share some songs with someone regularly.

Spotify has a feature called "Blend," which uses its algorithms to analyze your music taste and the music taste of any friends you add to a Blend playlist. You can even view a "Blend Story," which is a fun slideshow of infographics about where your music tastes overlap and differ when compared to the person or people in your Blend playlist. Each song has the profile picture of either you or your friend next to it, so you can see whose listening activity the song was generated from.

Peek at what your friends are rocking out to

If you use Facebook, you can link your Spotify account to your Facebook account, making it easy for your Facebook friends to find your profile on Spotify by name or through the Find Friends button on the desktop app. You can search for your friends' Spotify usernames, browse and add their playlists to your library, view their recent listening history, and, on the desktop Spotify app, view their active listening history.

This is a great way to discover new music and gain an idea of what types of music your friends are listening to. If it creeps you out that people can look through your playlists or see what you're actively listening to, you can make your playlists private and disable the active listening feed. All of these features are available whether or not you pay for Premium.

Some music may be unavailable if you don't pay for Premium

Free Spotify pays artists less per stream than Spotify Premium does. In response to this discrepancy, Spotify allows artists to set up a paywall for the first two weeks after a release. If an artist chooses this option, their release will only be available to Premium users until the two weeks have gone by. If it's important to you to have access to all the latest releases, this may be a feature that sways you to pay for Spotify Premium. Additionally, if you value the amount of money your favorite artists are getting paid, Premium is superior in that department. The following chart depicts the average amount Spotify pays artists per stream.

Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium: Sound quality is higher with Premium

There is currently no high-resolution option for Spotify users, regardless of subscription type. Spotify only supports , Ogg Vorbis, and HE-AACv2 (depending on what type of device you're streaming to), which are all lossy file formats. There are still differences in sound quality between Free Spotify and Spotify Premium. With Free Spotify, the maximum bitrate you can stream at is 128kbps on the web player and 160kbps on the mobile and desktop apps, whereas Spotify Premium affords you 256kbps on the web player and 320kbps streaming on desktop and mobile. In essence, this means that Spotify Premium's music contains more audio data points and, therefore more detail to its sound.

Streaming Service

Max streaming quality

Supported Formats

Spatial audio option

Spotify Premium does have higher quality than Free Spotify, but it doesn't have a high resolution or " HiFi" setting. However, on February 22, 2021, Spotify announced Spotify HiFi, a lossless audio streaming tier that'll fit in with services like Deezer, Tidal HiFi, and Amazon Music HD. As of December 20, 2022, Spotify HiFi is still unavailable, and once it does launch it probably won't be worth paying extra for if they charge more than the regular tier.

What are some lesser-known Spotify features?

Spotify constantly and consistently comes out with new features. For example, in 2017, it created a "Time Capsule" playlist for all of its 16-year-old-and-up users, Premium or not. These playlists were personalized based on their extensive listening history. It was created to be the kind of playlist users would have listened to in their teenage years. Pretty cool, huh? Another more recent creation of Spotify was the "Pet Playlist," which users could personalize by inputting the species of their pet as well as ranking their pet's behaviors across a few different spectra. This data was then mixed with the genres and styles of music the user enjoys to create a playlist for users and their furry best friends.

Express yourself on Tinder and Instagram

Spotify has partnerships with many other apps, including Instagram and Tinder. You can share the name, artist, and album artwork of a song to your Instagram story with the click of a button on Spotify. If you link your Spotify account to Tinder, you can publish your frequently played songs on your Tinder profile-you know, to make sure you attract people with as impeccable music taste as yourself. And, of course, you can connect your account with Facebook to find friends more easily.

Spotify plays nicely with Android Auto and has its own Apple Carplay mode

When you connect your smartphone to your car by Bluetooth, Spotify will automatically go into Apple Carplay mode or Android Auto mode, depending on your OS and if your car is compatible with these features. These features reduce the amount of information displayed on the screen, making it safer to navigate the app while in the car. (We don't recommend using the app while actively driving, though. Have your passenger do it.) They also make for easy integration with the navigation apps Google Maps and Waze.

Similarly, many music-listening devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus, offer Spotify integration for easy access.

That's a wrap: End-of-year statistics

My personal favorite Spotify feature is "Spotify Wrapped." In December of every year, Spotify creates an animation of statistics for each user, including but not limited to the song they listened to most over the past year, how many total minutes they spent listening to music over the past year, the podcast the user listened to most often, and the countries all the artists they listened to are based out of. In addition to this, Wrapped shows users the statistics generalized by region and in the world as a whole.

In December of 2019, Spotify even had "Wrapped" stats for the whole decade. "Wrapped" is available for both Free and Premium users. Still, Premium users get additional personalized data, including the number of artists they discovered that year as well as their top new artists from that year. Because of this one small detail, Spotify Premium wins this section, but all Spotify users get a lot of really cool features.

Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium: Which one is better?

And the winner is Spotify Premium! It's pretty clear that Premium has more features than Free Spotify, but whether or not you're willing to pay for a subscription depends on you, of course. If you can get a student, family, or duo membership, Spotify Premium isn't too pricey, but if you're still on the fence, Spotify has free month-long trials of Premium. Like most streaming services, the primary purpose of the free tier is to entice you to move over to the fully featured paid tiers, which can range from restricting features like forcing you to shuffle albums and playlists or hampering sound quality to a clearly audible level. That being said, you'll still be able to get some casual listening out of Spotify's free tier, so enjoy the tunes!

Frequently asked questions about Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium

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Spotify Free vs Premium: Is it worth it?

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Explore the advantages of upgrading to Spotify Premium and learn the differences with Spotify Free before choosing your subscription.

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If there's one constant in the vast, ongoing, streaming music war, it's this fact: Spotify is the big dog. Despite competition from the Music Genome Project-powered Pandora and the playlist-centric YouTube Music, Spotify remains the king of the hill due to its large catalog, collaborative playlists, podcasts, and numerous other attractive features. Even with its recent price hike, Spotify remains a top-rated, overall Editors' Choice winner for streaming music services, along with Apple Music, LiveOne, and SiriusXM Internet Radio.

Part of Spotify's success is its ubiquity. You can access Spotify by launching the web player, by downloading the desktop apps (available for Chromebook, Linux, Mac, and Windows), or by installing one of the mobile apps (available for Android, iOS). You can also find Spotify on TVs, set-top boxes, smartwatches, and home video game consoles.

The desktop apps have an advantage over the web player and mobile apps in that you can use the former to play M4P, MP3, and MP4 audio files that are stored in your computer. This is a particularly cool feature for people who want to play all of their music streams and audio files from one central location. Unfortunately, the desktop app isn't compatible with M4A files.

Spotify has added lyrics support for both free and premium accounts on all platforms. Spotify, in collaboration with Musixmatch, delivers auto-scrolling lyrics that sync with the song as it plays, giving you convenient sing-along functionality. Previously Spotify was partnered with Genius for lyric functionality, but this feature was limited to the Android app and iOS app. This expanded lyrical sourcing is a significant service improvement.

How Much Does Spotify Cost?

You can dive into Spotify by signing up for Spotify Free or for one of the four Spotify Premium tiers. The free version serves audio and banner ads, and lets you listen to 160Kbps streams, manage your digital music files, and connect with other people via the built-in social networking features. Sadly, Spotify's premium tiers have increased in price across the board this year, matching those of YouTube Music, which also went up in cost.

The $10.99-per-month Spotify Premium lets you hear select albums before they're released and play songs on demand. You can also cache songs for offline playback on your computer, phone, or other devices. This tier also increases audio quality to 320Kbps. Feature- and quality-wise, Premium is worth the extra moolah. That said, Spotify doesn't let you record its audio as SiriusXM Internet Radio, the Editors' Choice for streaming services focused on live content, does.

Spotify's Family Plan grants six people individual premium accounts for an incredibly wallet-friendly $16.99 per month. Spotify's take on the family plan includes several cool features, such as Family Mix (a vulgarity-free playlist for your family) and Spotify Kids (a separate service aimed at children).

If you need a Spotify plan that only covers two people, Spotify Duo is the way to go. The $14.99-per-month tier is essentially a Family Plan for a pair of people, minus Spotify Kids. It even has its own take on Family Mix: Duo Mix.

A Spotify student plan is available for $5.99 per month, but it's not your typical student plan. This one also includes an ad-supported Hulu plan (normally $7.99 per month). Spotify no longer offers Showtime as a free perk, due to Paramount+ absorbing the Showtime library. The student plan is still a good deal that is largely unmatched by other streaming music services. The closest comparison is the $16.95-per-month Apple One service bundle that includes Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and AppleTV+.

Spotify's Songs and Podcasts

Spotify's library boasts more than 100 million songs, plus audiobooks, comedy, radio dramas, podcasts, poetry readings, and speeches. It's a rich collection, and we're pleasantly surprised that it includes Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech (part of the HistorySpeaks podcast) in its entirety. In fact, Spotify has a lot of non-music extras, such as The Joe Rogan Experience and select Hulu Originals soundtracks. These extras act as a counter to LiveOne's DJs and music history channels, as well as Tidal-like, in-depth music editorials and exclusive videos. That said, Spotify doesn't have many music videos or concert videos. YouTube Music is superior in that regard.

Clicking an artist's name pulls up additional songs by the artist, and an About tab that contains an artist's biography, photos, and hyperlinks to related Spotify pages. We killed quite a few minutes in testing leaping from Alicia Keys to Isaac Hayes to Booker T. and The M.G.'s, reading the in-depth bios, and sampling tracks. However, LiveOne's DNA station does a better job of fleshing out artist profiles through the use of interviews and playing the music that influenced the artists' sound.

Spotify's Playlists and Community

Spotify's library won't let you down. We streamed the entirety of A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service, Hannah Williams & The Affirmations' Late Nights & Heartbreak, and Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II. Spotify has a good mix of major and indie artists, including Taylor Swift, who once had a notable falling out with Spotify over money that saw her remove her catalog from the service.

You can build playlists with any of the tracks or albums in Spotify's deep catalog. By default, Spotify streams tracks on your playlists with gapless playback. Spotify also gives you the option to crossfade songs, and even the ability to adjust the number of seconds (1-12) to fade. It's not something we often use, but DJs (or wannabe DJs) might find it appealing.

If you want to build a playlist with a friend, turn on the collaborative playlist option to let your playlist be edited by others. Group Session, a premium feature, takes that idea a step further. It lets you and other Spotify Premium subscribers listen to the same content at the same time on your own devices-and control the content playback. Group Session supports two to five people and, thankfully, you can invite friends and family to chill out by sending them a link. That prevents trolls from jumping into your sessions.

Spotify's Sound Quality

Spotify's free 160Kbps and Premium 320Kbps streams sound good. If you aren't an audiophile, you'll find the sound quality satisfactory. It's leaps and bounds better than iHeartRadio's 128Kbps streams.

Spotify has announced the development of Spotify HiFi, a feature that delivers tracks in lossless, CD-quality audio (though, not hi-res audio). Spotify HiFi will support Spotify Connect, too, so you can stream tunes to smart devices and use your phone as a remote control. Spotify hasn't announced a price for this new plan, or a launch date.

If you want better audio quality, and have a good pair of headphones, you should look into Tidal's $19.99-per-month HiFi Plus plan. With it, Tidal delivers non-compressed, 1411Kbps FLAC audio that's of a much higher fidelity than your standard audio stream. Even better, HiFi includes Tidal Masters, a music collection that offers studio-quality, high-resolution audio streams. They sound terrific. Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Primephonic, and Qobuz also offer hi-res audio.

Spotify's AI-Powered DJ

Spotify has a new, personalized listening experience for Premium users in Canada and the United States. Simply called DJ, the feature is found in a new card in your Music Feed. Tap it, and the new AI DJ delivers a personalized, curated musical selection based on your listening preferences. If you don't jibe with the DJs offerings, simply tap the DJ button located at the screen's bottom to select a different artist, genre, or mood.

DJ works by harnessing Spotify's own personalization technology, as well as OpenAI (the tech behind ChatGPT) to offer informative info about whatever you're listening to. A dynamic AI voice delivers the narration, based on Xavier "X" Jernigan of The Get Up morning show fame.

Spotify's DJ works surprisingly well. The AI narration sounds a little flat at times (like it's reading a script), but it's also endearing to hear the DJ recommend music, or give you a bit of info about the next track before playing it. The inclusion of an AI-powered DJ helps close the gap in Spotify's otherwise impressive armor, giving subscribers the live, informative content the service previously lacked. That said, LiveOne still edges it out with its range of informative DJs who host particular playlists, as do the music history-filled Artist DNA stations.

Artist Radio and Recommendation System

Besides listening to singles, albums, and playlists, you can create an Artist Radio station that plays music from your favorite musicians, as well as similar-sounding musicians. We like Harlem's Artist Radio, which served up tunes from Dum Dum Girls and other indie rock notables in testing. You can, of course, like and ban songs to customize the Artist Radio experience, as you can with most music-streaming services.

Spotify builds on its cutting-edge features by revamping recommendations for audiobooks, music, and podcasts. Spotify adds personalized, curated previews of recommended audio when you peruse the mobile app's Home section. Whenever available, an animated song canvas accompanies audio previews, giving the app a dynamic, TikTok-like aesthetic. Podcast and audiobook feeds contain audio previews, as well as customized content based on your listening preferences. Followed podcasts and saved audiobooks appear at the top of their respective feeds.

We dig this stylish interface, though the animated canvases don't appear as frequently as we would like. Likewise, not all podcasts offer previews. Spotify announced that many of these new features are live now, but the rest will roll out in the coming weeks and months.

Spotify and VPNs

If you're concerned about streaming your favorite tunes over, say, a public Wi-Fi signal, you need to get yourself a VPN. A virtual private network safeguards your phone, tablet, or PC from snoopers and, depending on the location of the VPN server, may let you access music licensed to other regions. Using a VPN to get around licensing restrictions violates Spotify's terms of service, though, so tread carefully.

Spotify Is a Top-Tier Streaming Music Service

Simply put, Spotify is an excellent streaming music service that wins PCMag Editors' Choice award. It has tons of great music, exclusive tunes, and podcasts, all of which combine to make it a top pick for streaming music and more pop culture-related content. If you prefer live performances, check out LiveOne, which is an Editors' Choice selection for concerts. If you dig his-res audio and first dibs on concert tickets, Tidal-another Editors' Choice pick-is the way to go.
Chance Townsend contributed to this review.

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Spotify leads the streaming music pack with its deep music well, countless podcasts, early album access, collaborative playlists, and AI-powered curation.

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Since its launch in the noughties, the name Spotify has become synonymous with music streaming. With almost half a billion active listeners, it's the gold standard of music streaming services. But what is Spotify, and why do you need Spotify Premium in your life?

In this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about the service, how it compares to other music streaming providers, and how you can get a free trial of Spotify Premium.

What Is Spotify?

Spotify is a free and paid audio streaming service founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. First launching in Europe in 2008, it was one of the original streaming services, offering an alternative to the controversial P2P file-sharing services such as Napster, Limewire, and Kazaa.

Following its initial launch, Spotify gradually extended its services around the world, launching in the United Kingdom in 2010 and the U.S. in 2011. With sustained year-on-year growth, Spotify remains the largest music streaming service, with around 456 million active users, including 195 million premium Spotify subscribers.

Spotify Features

Spotify includes several well-designed, thoughtful features to enhance your listening pleasure. Check out Spotify Premium's full features here.

Playlists

Playlists are one of Spotify's most popular features and have changed how many people listen to music. Offering a similar experience to traditional radio listening, playlists can help you find the latest in new music, vibe to a particular genre, or discover artists similar to those you already love. Playlists come in the following types:

Made for You - Spotify automatically creates these playlists according to your listening habits. Typical Made for You playlists include:

Spotify Mixes, based on artists, genres, and decades that you listen to

Discover Weekly, which contains songs that Spotify thinks you'll dig

Release Radar, for all the latest songs from your favourite artists and similar ones

On Repeat, features songs that you can't stop listening to.

Made for Everyone - Spotify offers a massive selection of playlists curated by global music experts. Themes include a particular genre, a favourite decade, the back catalogue of a famous artist, or mood music, such as tunes to work out to.

Made by Everyone - in addition to expertly curated playlists, you can find playlists that other Spotify users have created. Made by Everyone playlists are a great way to find artists that other fans of your favourite band are listening to. You can also visit your friends' Spotify profiles to find playlists they've created or even the profiles of your favourite artists to see what they're listening to!

Customise Your Audio

You can customise various features to tune Spotify's audio to your needs by visiting the settings page. In Audio Quality, you can increase or decrease streaming and download quality to enhance your audio or minimise data usage. You can also apply a normaliser to adjust all songs to play at the same volume automatically, or you can enforce a set volume level, which is handy if you want to enjoy some late-night listening.

The Playback section takes your audio control to another level. You can crossfade songs so that two tracks overlap for continuous playback with no silence. Additionally, you can fine-tune your audio with the built-in equaliser - either by choosing one of the genre or environment presets or by manually adjusting the levels of different frequencies.

Library

Using Spotify's library, you can save your favourite artists, albums, and songs for quick and easy access. Adding music to your library is pretty seamless. You can search for all of your favourite content and add it at will, or if you come across tracks in playlists that you want to save for later, you can click the heart next to each track to add it to your library.

Private Listening

If you don't live life out loud or just don't want your mates to know that you have a soft spot for Vengaboys, Spotify has your back. You can select the handy Private Session feature on the drop-down menu at the top of the page, obscuring all your listening activity. You can also set playlists to private, so they won't appear on your profile or in searches.

Integrated Gig Guide and Merchandise

Visit the profile page of any given artist and, alongside the standard features such as their catalogue of releases and similar artists, you can also get information about any upcoming gigs in your area and internationally. Additionally, some artists include links to their new and popular merch offerings.

Connecting to Devices

Accessing Spotify content from elsewhere is a painless task. With Listen Everywhere, you can enjoy your music across various smart devices, wireless speakers, gaming consoles, and even car audio interfaces. Fans of smart home tools won't be disappointed either - Spotify works a treat with devices such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Home.

Spotify Free Vs Spotify Premium

There's a lot to love about Spotify Free. With the free version, you can access the same great library of songs (over 80 million) alongside podcasts and audiobooks. But Spotify Premium really does take things to the next level.

Ad-Free Listening

The most apparent benefit of Spotify Premium is ad-free listening. Ads in Spotify, both visual and audio, might not bother you too much. But if you find the breaks in your listening experience insufferable, or you're playing music through Spotify at a party or gathering, then Spotify Premium is essential.

Overseas Travel

With Spotify Free, you can access your music overseas for up to 14 days. However, Premium users have unlimited access to their accounts while out of the country. The limited access might not be an issue if you aren't frequently abroad, but business travellers could quickly benefit from Spotify Premium.

Playback Control

Using the mobile app, Spotify Free users are restricted to shuffle mode, which will randomly skip through an album. Furthermore, there are no options to rewind or repeat tracks, and you're limited to six skips per hour. With Spotify Premium, no such restrictions exist. You can pick and play any track on the mobile app or web player, rewind and restart songs at will, and skip as many songs as you like.

Downloads and Offline Listening

With Spotify Premium, you can download songs to your device, so you can enjoy them offline when you don't have network access. The ability to download music is a massive boost if you live in a rural area with poor network coverage or frequently travel to places with poor signal.

Audio Quality

If audio quality is essential to you, Premium is the way to go. In Spotify Free, you're limited to a maximum bitrate of 160kbps on the desktop and mobile apps and 128kbps on the web player. In Spotify Premium, these rates are ramped up to 320kbps and 256kbps respectively, a noticeably superior sound quality.

Spotify Lyrics From MusixMatch

MusixMatch, a global leader in music data, is dedicated to empowering music enthusiasts and businesses around the world. They offer rich data, advanced tools, and all-inclusive services to deliver a dynamic and immersive global music experience. Their lyric library includes over 8 million tracks in 80 languages, allowing music lovers of any language background to engage with their favourite songs. Plus, their time-synced lyrics feature provides an engaging way to explore songs visually.

However, MusixMatch offers more than just lyrics and translations. They supply a broad spectrum of enhanced metadata such as moods, genres, tempo, and instruments, among others. This allows users to delve deeper into their beloved music and discover new tunes aligning with their tastes.

MusixMatch has also established partnerships with industry giants, including Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram, Amazon Music, Facebook, Tidal, Shazam, Vevo, Google, and numerous popular lyric websites. These partnerships broaden the influence of MusixMatch's services by integrating them into platforms already popular among music aficionados.

With 80 million active users worldwide, MusixMatch is revolutionising how people explore, enjoy, and share music globally. Their aim is to become an essential part of the world's musical culture transcending geographical location or language barriers. Whether you are located in London or Tokyo or speak English or Swahili, MusixMatch is dedicated to providing an unmatched musical experience that breaks down language barriers while promoting cultural exchange.

MusixMatch for Creators

MusixMatch offers a specialised platform for artists, songwriters, and lyricists to showcase their work to a broad international audience. This platform equips creators with essential tools for promoting their lyrics:

Adding, Editing, and Syncing Lyrics: MusixMatch allows you to smoothly add or modify the lyrics of your songs, making it easy for fans to sing along. Additionally, you can synchronise your lyrics with the music in real-time.

Distributing Lyrics to DSPs: Want your lyrical brilliance spread far and wide? MusixMatch sends your lyrics out to top Digital Service Providers (DSPs) like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, as well as popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. This facilitates fan access to your work and helps you reach wider audiences while enhancing fan engagement.

Creating Lyric Videos: Using their superb lyric video tool, you can animate your words with just a few clicks. After selecting a template and uploading your lyrics and background image, an auto-generated lyric video perfect for social media sharing is created within seconds.

Expert Lyric Curation: MusixMatch does more than just host lyrics. Their diverse team of expert curators specialise in various languages and genres, ensuring that the presentation of your lyrics is of the highest quality possible. The dedicated curators carefully format and verify the accuracy of the lyrics providing an unmatched experience - leaving you free to concentrate on making music.

How Much Is Spotify Premium?

Spotify Premium comes out at £9.99 per month for the Individual plan. In exchange for your hard-earned, you'll have access to ad-free music listening, on-demand playback, and the ability to play your music anywhere and any time, even offline. To sweeten the deal, new subscribers can also enjoy a three-month free trial of Spotify Premium, perfect if you're still on the fence about signing up.

Spotify Premium Student

With the Spotify Premium Student plan, you'll have all the same great benefits of the Individual plan but for the low monthly price of just £5.99. You will need to meet specific criteria to be eligible for this rate, such as being a student at an accredited higher education institution. Unfortunately, the Student plan doesn't offer a three-month free trial, but you will have one free month to fall in love with Spotify before beginning your paid subscription.

Spotify Premium Duo

The Spotify Premium Duo plan is perfect for cohabiting couples who both want access to their own libraries. For just £13.99 a month, you can both make full, simultaneous use of Spotify Premium. As with the Student plan, Duo includes a one-month free trial to check out everything Spotify Premium offers.

Spotify Family Premium

For larger households and those with smaller listeners, the Spotify Premium Family plan could be just what you need. For £16.99 per month, you'll have unfettered access for up to six subscribers. Furthermore, you'll also have content tailored exclusively for children, with the separate Spotify Kids app and the ability to block explicit songs.

Is Spotify Premium Worth It?

With Spotify Free and Spotify Premium both offering access to the company's mammoth 80-million-strong database, along with all the same great podcasts and audiobooks, it could be tempting to question whether you need to upgrade to Spotify Premium. And if you're a casual listener who doesn't mind ads and a little less audio quality, then Spotify Free could be absolutely fine.

However, suppose you want to really maximise your listening experience, enhancing everything from audio quality to control over what music you listen to and how you listen to it. In that case, Spotify Premium is a must. For just £9.99 per month for the Individual plan, you can have unlimited access to all of Spotify Premium's features, including the potentially essential ability to download your favourite songs for offline enjoyment.

Additionally, while not the case for all new releases, artists can share their latest efforts with Premium users as early as two weeks before the same tracks reach Spotify Free. So, if you want immediate access to all the latest hits, Spotify Premium could be the way to go.

How To Get Spotify Premium

Whether you're a new customer who likes the sound of Spotify Premium's offerings or an existing Spotify Free user looking to ramp up your listening experience, signing up for Spotify Premium is a walk in the park.

New Spotify Users

If you've never used Spotify before, visit their website here from your browser of choice to start the signup process. You'll first need to select your perfect plan before creating your account with the Sign Up for Spotify button. After entering all your details, you'll need to add a payment method before receiving confirmation of your free trial period and information on when you'll need to make your first payment.

How to Upgrade to Spotify Premium

If you're an existing Spotify Free customer, you can take the same steps as new customers above (but log in instead of creating a new user account) or simply visit your account page and select Available Plans. From there, you can choose the plan of your choice and complete your registration as outlined above.

Apple Music Vs Spotify Premium

With plenty of music streaming service options out there, it can be handy to know precisely how Spotify stacks up against the other top dogs before investing - and in general, the results are more than favourable. Here, we'll consider how Spotify Premium compares to the second most popular streaming service: Apple Music.

Price

Apple Music doesn't offer a free version, instead opting for the low-cost Voice plan, which, while ad-free, doesn't allow users to download songs or access lossless audio or Apple's Spatial Audio. Other than that, their plans are available at a similar price to Spotify Premium. Spotify edges Apple Music with its Individual plan (£9.99 vs £10.99), and Apple Music doesn't offer a Duo plan option. The Family and Student plans are available for the same price as Spotify Premium (£16.99 and £5.99).

Music Library

Apple Music claims to have a music library of over 100 million songs, which on face value is significantly higher than Spotify Premium's 80 million songs. In practice, however, you probably won't notice much difference. Major artists make their entire catalogues available to both providers, so unless you have extremely niche tastes, you're unlikely to benefit from Apple Music's more extensive library.

Sound Quality

While Apple Music includes some support for lossless audio, along with Apple's own Spatial Audio, Apple Music's default playback quality is 256kbps. While this bitrate is better than the 160kbps that Spotify Free supports, the high-quality 320kbps audio available with Spotify Premium is superior.

Furthermore, although we're still waiting, Spotify has long had plans to introduce Spotify Hi-Fi, a lossless audio subscription service offering ultra-high sound quality.

Access

With mobile and desktop apps, web players, and compatibility with many major media systems, such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X, S, and One, both Spotify Premium and Apple Music are widely available. But when considering personal devices, your tech preference could decide which service is right for you.

If you are an Apple user and own devices such as the Apple Watch and Apple TV, then integrated Apple Music access is an attractive proposition. However, not only are Spotify apps also available for Apple devices, but the service is also widely available on other third-party devices, such as Samsung and Google products.

While Apple Music allows users to share playlists via AirDrop, its social media integration is pretty limited compared to that offered by Spotify. Sharing content via Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter is a cinch. But the ability to share songs and playlists with the fantastic QR-style Spotify Codes is a seamless and intuitive feature that takes content sharing to the next level.

User Interface

UI is one of the most subjective areas of comparison. Which service looks better depends primarily on whether you prefer light and bright or dark and moody. While Apple Music does offer a clean, high-contrast appearance, its bright tones can be tiring on the eyes, and the lack of any dark mode option is regrettable. On the other hand, Spotify Premium 's black and green finish might not be to everyone's tastes, but it's definitely easier on the eyes.

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Overall

Spotify Premium and Apple Music are two of the most popular music streaming services, and with good reason. They both offer an excellent catalogue of songs, well-rounded features, and good accessibility for a very reasonable price. If you are a devotee of Apple products or have particularly unique music tastes, then Apple Music might serve you better.

However, with better accessibility across third-party devices, more social media and content-sharing options, dark mode as standard, and a lower price for individual users, it's easy to see the appeal of Spotify Premium.

FAQs

For the low-down on everything Spotify, read on for the answers to all the most frequently asked Spotify Premium questions.

How Much Does Spotify Premium Cost?

Depending on your circumstances, several different Spotify Premium plans are available, each with a different monthly price.

How Much is Spotify Premium Individual?

The most popular plan is Spotify Premium Individual, available for £9.99 per month. The Individual plan is also available with a three-month free trial to help you decide whether the service is for you before paying a penny.

How Much is Spotify Premium Duo?

For households of two people, the Duo plan includes Spotify Premium access for two accounts for a monthly price of £13.99.

How Much is Spotify Premium Family?

The Spotify Premium Family plan includes up to six accounts, controls over explicit music and a separate app for children, all for a monthly cost of £16.99.

How Much is Spotify Premium Student?

The Student Spotify Premium plan offers a considerable saving on the monthly cost compared to the Individual plan. If you're a higher education student studying at an accredited institution, you can pay the low monthly price of £5.99.

Can I get a Spotify Premium Free Trial?

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It isn't possible to get permanently free Spotify Premium access, but you can still try out all of the service's features before deciding if it's right for you. Individual plan subscribers can access the Spotify Premium 3 month free trial. In contrast, Duo, Family, and Student subscribers can try out Spotify Premium free for one month before deciding whether to continue with a subscription.

Additionally, it's possible to attain even longer free trials with third-party companies. Mobile phone providers and tech retailers sometimes include up to six months of free Spotify Premium access with qualifying purchases and contracts. So, it's always worth checking with your existing providers to see if you can grab a free extended trial.

Is There a Spotify Premium Mod APK?

While you can find a Spotify Premium APK online, you should proceed cautiously before exploring this option. Firstly, many such downloads are risky for the health and security of your device. More importantly, this method is essentially a hack of the Spotify service, which is illegal.

How Can I Get a Spotify Premium Giftcard?

If you've received a Spotify gift card, you can use the card to pay for a Spotify Premium subscription. Cards are available for 1, 3, 6, and 12-month values. To activate your gift card, head to spotify.com/redeem and log in.

You'll then need to scratch off the pin cover on your card to reveal your Spotify Premium code. After entering the code, just click Redeem, and you'll have instant paid access to Spotify Premium for as long as is covered by your gift card.

How to Cancel Spotify Premium

If you change your mind and need to know how to cancel premium on Spotify for whatever reason, rest assured that it's a quick and easy process. To begin, visit spotify.com/account and log in to your account.

Then, in the Your Plan section of the Account Overview page, select Change Plan. If you scroll through the different plan options, you'll see the Cancel Premium button at the bottom of the list.

If you don't see the Change Plan button, it probably means that your Spotify Premium subscription is linked to an account with a partner company, such as your mobile phone or internet service provider. In such cases, you should be able to cancel your Spotify Premium subscription on your account page with the relevant company.

If you want to reduce your outgoings but don't want to lose access to Spotify, cancel Premium and change your account to Spotify Free. While you won't have the same level of control over your listening experience, you'll still be able to access the entirety of Spotify's music, podcast, and audiobook library.

How Do I Upgrade to Spotify Premium?

You can upgrade to Spotify Premium from your account page if you already have Spotify Free. Just click on Available Plans and choose the Premium plan that best fits your needs.

Can I Import My Library from Another Service?

There isn't an integrated option in Spotify to import your saved songs from another streaming service, but there are some excellent third-party solutions, such as Soundiiz. Whether you're migrating from Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, YouTube Music, Deezer, or another popular service, this low-cost option can save hours of tedious transferring.

Closing Thoughts

There's certainly no shortage of choice when it comes to audio streaming services. Some competitors may offer features more suited to niche users, and Spotify Free is an excellent tool for the most casual of listeners.

But if you're looking for a comprehensive music library, excellent playback control, incredible social media and content-sharing integration, and a host of thoughtful features to enhance your listening experience, then it's hard to find better than Spotify Premium.

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Everything You Need to Know About Spotify Premium

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Read our definitive user's guide to Spotify Premium, with everything you need to know about subscriptions, features and more.