Spotify may soon neuter its free streaming tier

[Shawn Knight]

Spotify has built a substantial lead in the streaming music race thanks largely in part to its ad-supported tier which lets people listen to music free of charge in exchange for putting up with the occasional commercial.

Those that take advantage of this offering may be sad to hear that Spotify could soon be neutering its free tier.

The Financial Times is reporting that, as part of licensing negotiations with three major labels, it may restrict the playback of significant new album releases on its free tier for a certain period of time. Those that pay for the premium service would get access to all of the latest music as is the case today but free listeners would have to wait a while.

The move would further incentivize Spotify’s premium subscription and ultimately boost revenue, no doubt helping Spotify’s IPO cause. That, of course, is assuming that disgruntled users make the jump from the free tier to a paid plan. The strategy could just as easily backfire and inadvertently lead to increased piracy of new albums or lead to some customers jumping ship out of spite.

Negotiations are said to involve Sony, Warner and Universal. While nothing has been signed yet, talks have reportedly picked up considerably as of late. As a result, a deal could possibly be hammered out within weeks.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/68549-spotify-may-soon-neuter-free-streaming-tier.html

 

[compdata]

I think Neuter is way to strong of a word for this change. This isn't that big of an issue unless you are super impatient and want access to stuff immediately. In that case pay a couple $ for the subscription anyway. I personally am fine with waiting a couple weeks/months for it to be available. If we are talking years than yes that is probably a bigger deal.

 

[Kibaruk]

That, of course, is assuming that disgruntled users make the jump from the free tier to a paid plan. The strategy could just as easily backfire and inadvertently lead to increased piracy of new albums or lead to some customers jumping ship out of spite.

Why would it matter to them, if they are not paying already they are not loosing anything. Paying customers on the other hand won't mind at all because it won't affect them.

Spotify, before I got an account (Which later closed due to security issues), was the most open of them all on the free tier. I think even without the latest cds it would still be better than the "radio" (Or similar to this song) offerings from Google for example.

 

[oldikes]

As long as I dont get a price hike on premium im good. to me its 100% worth its current cost

 

[havok585]

Anything that involves Sony, Universal will ultimately backfire.

 

[andrewdoyle88]

As long as I dont get a price hike on premium im good. to me its 100% worth its current cost

I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure they're hoping it will create an influx of subscribers going from free to paid; which I hope will keep premium the same price.

 

[Kibaruk]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure they're hoping it will create an influx of subscribers going from free to paid; which I hope will keep premium the same price.

I never myself had the urge to go premium either, until I had an offer on 3 months for $1, after that I could never go back to free.

 

[DAOWAce]

If the price for premium wasn't ridiculous, I'd pay monthly for it. Like Pandora's $1 a month for unlimited listening.. not $5/mo for slightly higher quality music and no ads (which are blocked anyway, unless you use the desktop app as I rudely discovered when streaming).

As much as I do want to have premium so the desktop app is usable (works with media keys on keyboard in fullscreen applications; ie games), I can in no way justify the price for it. I'm currently signed up on a promo for $1/mo for 2 months, gonna be pretty sore when it ends.

Regardless, this isn't a problem for me; listening to new albums is something I don't do.. and a lot of other people probably don't either.

 

[Thorney]

Those arent the biggest two selling points of premium, the number one is offline use. Having 3000 songs downloaded onto a device and it doesn't have to be the same 3000 on each, so it saves you on data when using incar or or out and about and they can be extreme quality if you have the space.

 

[hk2000]

Spotify don't care about their customers, I think they got too big for their own good.