With the paid version of the app, a “very high quality” feature is unlocked, which streams songs at 320kbps. In the free version of the app, streaming is limited to ‘normal quality,’ or 96kbps (kilobits per second), or ‘high quality,’ 160kbps.īeyond that, only premium users have the option to opt for higher-fidelity streaming. Audio Qualityįor audiophiles, this is the biggest reason for upgrading to premium. In addition to this, users of the Spotify mobile app with a free account will not be able to repeat songs or playlists.

With the free version of Spotify, users are limited to how many times they can skip and replay songs. Currently, there are 15 selected playlists for free users to pick and play at will – everything else will shuffle! Skipping and Replaying Spotify has a massively limiting feature on its smartphone app (interestingly, not on its tablet or desktop app) that restricts free users to listening to shuffled playlists and albums. This can be really annoying and will completely pull you out of the listening experience. If you have Spotify free, your listening experience will be interrupted every few songs with a short, unskippable advert. Without a subscription fee, Spotify has to cover the cost of running a streaming service, and they do that with adverts. This is the main one and the thing that drives most people to a paid subscription. Premiumīut there are some concessions you have to make for free access to all that music. While most apps offer a free trial version that you can use before your subscription starts, with Spotify, you can continue using the free version forever and never spend a penny.

A key feature of Spotify that not many other apps offer is a free version of the service.

Spotify membership cost