Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium

Spotify is widely considered to be the world's most popular music streaming service. You can listen to podcasts as well as listen to music on it. Our Free Spotify vs Premium comparison will determine whether or not the monthly fee is worthwhile, or whether you'd be better off forking over the cost of the ads to save money. It's possible that you'll discover new features of Spotify as you go along.

The listening experience with Free Spotify is unpleasant

Another problem with the free version of Spotify on mobile is that you can't choose which songs to play. Select a playlist or album, and then select the songs you want to randomly play. Having a song stuck in your head can be frustrating when you can't stop listening to it. You'll be able to listen to that song as many times as you want with Premium.
However, if you're listening to one of Spotify's 15 curated playlists under "Made for You" on the "Home" page, you can select songs for playback with unlimited skips. Popular editorial playlists like "RapCaviar" and "Alternative R&B" are among these, as are algorithmically generated playlists like "Discover Weekly," "Daily Mix," and "Release Radar," which are tailored to your listening preferences. These playlists are constantly being updated with new songs. Shuffle is only allowed in playlists with a blue "shuffle" icon next to the title.

Get ready for annoying ads with Free Spotify

The most annoying aspect of Free Spotify is the frequency with which ads interrupt your listening experience. Ads are incredibly annoying, and they're probably designed to be. There are a slew of them that use the most obnoxious sounds possible, like traffic horns accompanied by a voice asking, "Is this annoying? For those who pay for Premium, this won't be an issue any longer Because of this, I'll give them credit: paying for Spotify Premium is almost worth it just to get rid of these annoying ads.
To listen offline, you can download as many songs as you like from Spotify Premium. Using this on a long flight or when you're away from home is a great option. Free Spotify does not allow you to download any music, so you may end up spending money on data instead of a Premium subscription.

A glitch to Spotify Free affords Premium features

There was a glitch in Free Spotify's code in August 2020 that allowed users to skip as many songs as they wanted, select specific songs from the library, and listen without interruption on mobile and desktop. This bug made it nearly identical to Spotify Premium, minus the ability to download music for offline use. To my knowledge, Spotify's free service includes ads and limited skips, according to a customer service rep. Spotify Premium has won the best listening experience award for the time being because of this glitch, but it's not going to last forever.

Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium: Discovery features are identical

One of Spotify's best features is the way it encourages the discovery of new artists. This can be seen in its algorithmically generated playlists, which are designed to recommend music based on your previous listening habits. New suggestions are regularly added to the "Discover Weekly" and "Daily Mix" playlists. If you don't like a song or an artist that's been recommended to you, you can click a button that tells the service to block that artist from your profile. A weekly playlist called "Release Radar" churns out new music from the artists you follow.
If you're looking for new music, you can use Spotify's Browse tab to browse through a wide range of genres, moods, and other categories. It will also recommend editorial playlists based on your listening habits, and it will algorithmically create "Radio" playlists for every song, artist, album, and playlist that you've ever listened to.

For new playlists, Spotify recommends songs based on your playlist title, as well as the songs you've already added to it. Spotify's discovery features are available regardless of whether or not you've purchased Spotify Premium.


Free or paid, enjoy the same social features

Things have changed a lot since the days when my dad would buy the latest Neil Young record on vinyl and sit around the turntable with his friends. However, it's still common for people to get together and listen to music today—and perhaps less so in 2020. Even if you're stuck at home, you can still enjoy the social benefits of music by sharing it with others. In order to encourage music sharing, Spotify offers a variety of tools on its platform that you don't need to purchase Premium to use.
After pressing the three-dot symbol on your screen (mobile or desktop) or next to the playlist title, select "Collaborative Playlist" to create a collaborative playlist. Then, share the playlist link with your social network contacts. Using this, they will be able to add and remove songs from it. Anyone with the link can access it, and it's private unless the link is held by someone else. It's a great idea to create a joint playlist with your roommates or friends if they're throwing a party or going on a road trip. If you just want to share some songs with someone on a regular basis, they're also a good option.

Spotify will create a "Family Mix" or "Duo Mix" of songs based on the listening history of all subscribers if you have a Premium Family subscription or a Premium Duo subscription. Because Spotify creates these playlists and not the users, I'm not going to consider it a social feature and won't penalise Free Spotify for its absence.

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

Spotify's Premium subscriptions come in four flavours, and some of them are a steal. For $9.99 a month, you can get Spotify Premium Individual. There will be no interruptions, on-demand listening, and the ability to download tracks for offline listening when you use this method. In order to qualify for the $4.99/month Premium Student subscription, you must be enrolled full-time at an accredited university or college. In addition to Spotify Premium's features, if you're a student in the United States, you'll also get access to SHOWTIME and Hulu with ad-supported content.

It's possible to get Premium Duo if you and your roommate want to share a Premium account. There is a monthly fee of $12.99, and you and your companion will each have your own account. The "Duo Mix" option is available in addition to the regular Premium features. "Duo Mix" can be found on your "Made for You" page on the mobile app, where you and your partner can both select "Join Duo Mix" from the three dots. Spotify will create a playlist that appeals to both you and your significant other based on an algorithm. Depending on your mood, you can make the mix more chill or more upbeat, and you can also remove any songs with explicit lyrics from the mix. You or your partner's profile picture appears next to each song so you can see whose listening activity generated the song.

As with Premium Duo, all members of Spotify Premium Family must share the same address. Up to six separate accounts can be supported by Premium Family, which costs $14.99 a month. Music that may be offensive to some family members can be excluded from the Premium Family account, but children can still use the Spotify Kids app with their parent's permission. As an added bonus, your family can listen to a custom-made "Family Mix," which works in the same way as the "Duo Mix."

There are a lot of interesting subscription options out there, but in the end, free is still free. Free Spotify may be the best option for you if you don't mind the ads, lack of features, and other inconveniences in exchange for not having to shell out a monthly fee.


Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium: Which one is better?

Spotify Premium has been crowned the winner! If you're willing to pay for Spotify Premium, you'll get more features than if you're using the free version. Free month-long trials of Spotify Premium are available for those who are still undecided about signing up for the service. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here.