Spotify Price Increases - What Is The Experience with Free Spotify?

dynamic007 on 12/04/2024 - 10:48

Hi Folks
I am considering switching to the free Spotify as the upcoming price increases are just too much to justify for now.

Quick question, does anyone know if your still able to link free spotify up with google home to request songs? I am aware there will be ads etc, but does requesting a specific song still work?

Thanks

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Comments

  • avoidfullprice on 12/04/2024 - 10:51
    +4

    You can specify songs. You will have limited “skipping”. You can trial it by creating another free account

    • HeWhoKnows on 13/04/2024 - 17:06

      No reason why OP cannot cease thier paid account and move to a free account..
      Can always move back to paid account.

      I think most dont mind the FREE account

  • urahara on 12/04/2024 - 10:52
    +1

    VPN into India
    Get gift card from Amazon.in using australian credit card (prefer 0 international trx fee)
    Add it to the account.
    Disconnect from VPN
    Login normally and njoy

    • SmiTTy on 12/04/2024 - 14:15
      +2

      I tried this recently, got my Amazon account locked.

      Had to go thru hoops to get it unlocked

    • Blown on 12/04/2024 - 16:45

      Usually i buy from it, but today seems to be out of stock :/

  • CC123 on 12/04/2024 - 10:58
    +3

    Can't vouch for the quality of these services, or if they offer the same/all of the features of Spotify but there's always Demus or Nonoki as an alternative streaming service

  • AustriaBargain on 12/04/2024 - 11:15
    +5

    You could join or start an Apple Music family plan. $20 between six people is $3.33 a month per person. Cheaper than Spotify's family plan at $24 a month. I find it's easiest to get people to pay you a year ahead to join the plan, pro-rating it for each person to pay on new years at the same time. And if people pay you then you don't need to worry about being suddenly cut off, although you have to go through the bother of organising it to get the discount.

    I wouldn't use Spotify free tier. The ads are obnoxious and targeted to your location. Spotify free is for broke uni students and teenagers.

  • jv on 12/04/2024 - 11:15
    +1

    Didn't they last increase prices late last year?

    • Iwantthebestprice on 12/04/2024 - 12:17
      +2

      This is their second price increase within 12 months! And pretty sure they just laid off 1000 staff as part of a restructuring. Spotify shares are up 17% this month so the shareholders are very happy with this.

      But I’m not a shareholder so booo

      • jv on 12/04/2024 - 12:40
        +1

        Spotify shares are up 17% this month so the shareholders are very happy with this.

        Will they be happy when subscribers don't renew?

  • kenzstar on 12/04/2024 - 12:25
    +7

    Just signup to youtube premium and you get youtube music and ad free youtube, youtube music has a bigger library than spotify.

    Other benefits, you can download youtube videos to watch offline and play video in the background while in other apps on phone.

    youtube is currently cheaper by $3

    • jv on 12/04/2024 - 12:41
      -5

      youtube is currently cheaper by $3

      youtube is free.

      • blitz on 12/04/2024 - 16:29
        +5

        youtube is free.

        you are the product

        • jv on 12/04/2024 - 16:40
          +17

          Thank you.

          I'm flattered.

        • CtrlAltSpoods on 12/04/2024 - 17:07
          +15

          I don't care if they track what I'm watching, they'd know it even if I were paying.
          I go to every extent to block ads from YouTube on every platform however, it truly is the paid experience for free.

          • Rebuilt the app for Android to have ad blocking and SponsorBlock built in, custom features too
          • SmartTube on Google TV = no ads and SponsorBlock
          • Rooted LG TV's to have modded YouTube apps
          • Adguard DNS, Adguard extensions - Adguard+Adguard Extra (for sites that need special treatment)

          Way better than paying $18 a month and not even being able to use SponsorBlock on the official apps.
          They can sell all the data of me watching a documentary or listening to music all they want, I'm pretty sure I'm still better off at the end of the day.

          I realise I've written way too much for this but goddamn I hate ads and subscriptions lmao

        • Dollar General on 12/04/2024 - 20:35
          +1

          I wouldn’t want to be associated with a company that wants me as a product. It’s standards are way too low

        • OZKap on 13/04/2024 - 15:55

          And someone with YouTube premium is paying to be the product.

        • skittlebrau on 13/04/2024 - 18:55

          You’re also the product with most paid software these days unfortunately.

    • sane on 12/04/2024 - 13:55
      +2

      Or there is the free music service you get with Amazon Prime, or the paid Amazon Music service, or there are ….. other …. ways of getting free spotify like services.

      Personally glad I stuck with MP3s - there's nothing new I want to listen too.

      • kiitos on 13/04/2024 - 14:14

        Haven't tried Amazon music despite having prime, thanks, will give it a go

        • Oz em on 13/04/2024 - 22:50

          No it’s terrible. Don’t bother

    • scotty on 12/04/2024 - 15:11
      +3

      youtube is currently cheaper by $3

      And YouTube Premium individual plan will raise to $16.99/mo from 18 May, making it $3 more expensive than Spotify :(

    • WT on 13/04/2024 - 09:19
      +1

      cant just run firefox on phone, add ad blocker?

      • OZKap on 13/04/2024 - 15:56

        That's how I go, Firefox and uBlock Origin.

        There's an add-on for background playback too, or Firefox might do it natively, I can't remember

      • crentist on 15/04/2024 - 00:44

        Brave fixes youtu e out of the box. No ads, background play, pip etc

    • Lemond1977 on 13/04/2024 - 11:58
      +3

      Just sign up to premium via Turkey if its still works for new signups

      • dynamic007 on 13/04/2024 - 17:01

        How much is the sub?

        • mooseca on 13/04/2024 - 17:18

          I signed up with Russian YouTube years ago, it's about 3 bucks a month

  • brendanm on 12/04/2024 - 12:33
    +10

    You can get modified Spotify apks.

    • Certified Angus on 13/04/2024 - 20:57
      +1

      You may have to search a bit, but you can usually xmanager to find something useful on github

    • jimmytuan on 15/04/2024 - 07:28

      Tried this the other day, and it wouldn't work on Android Auto in the car. Deleted the app and went back to paying for it LOL

      • brendanm on 15/04/2024 - 08:27
        +1

        You have to enable developer mode in the android auto settings, and allow other apps.

        • jimmytuan on 15/04/2024 - 13:28

          I'm guessing we tick the box next to "unknown sources"?

  • geekcohen on 12/04/2024 - 12:50
    +4

    I am aware there will be ads etc

    WHAT ABOUT HOW LOUD THEY ARE? Compared to the actual music.

    That is what I found to be the most annoying thing about the Free Version.

    —————————————————————————————————————————

    Also, the increase is apparently due to "audiobooks". Well, what about those who don't use Audiobooks or want them? Couldn't Spotify just have it as an add-on?

    • [Deactivated] on 12/04/2024 - 13:18
      +2

      I've premium and listened to a podcast there for the first time, was listening to it in peace in bed then BAM, volume 300% ad promoting whatever bullshit they did.

      • dynamic007 on 13/04/2024 - 08:05

        Lmao can't stop laughing

      • theMoebius on 13/04/2024 - 08:15
        +1

        To be fair, I think that’s the podcast producer’s choice to include ads to monetise, not Spotify.

        I’ve been listening to podcasts for a while on Family subscription, and only recall a couple ever having ads.

  • Fredfloresjr on 12/04/2024 - 12:56
    +2

    Someone is paying for me from Ph around $4-5 per month or 160 pesos. 2+ years strong now.

  • mooreshady on 12/04/2024 - 12:58

    Free Spotify never use somehow I h8 the ads

  • dynamic007 on 13/04/2024 - 08:08
    +1

    You are all legends, thanks for the healthy discussion here. I've got some ideas now on what to do which is great.

    Either way it's bye bye to Spotify premium for me.

    I never thought of YouTuve, I've got the India subscription for premium so it's $40 for the year (currently 4 months left) Il try that out for now as it links to our Googles

    Il also try out the free Spotify on another account, but gosh having the ads play louder then the music…that would drive me insane

    • Cletus vandamme on 14/04/2024 - 00:55

      I ditched Spotify years ago for YouTube music via VPN. Has most songs I've looked for and does the same thing.

    • donman92 on 15/04/2024 - 08:26

      You can use a cracked apk version of spotify / YT music too.

    • corvusman on 15/04/2024 - 09:06

      There is an easy way to transfer your playlists from Spotify to Youtube Music:
      https://www.reddit.com/r/YoutubeMusic/comments/1193llv/trans…

      I'm sure there are another methods as well. Same for Spotify -> Apple Music.

  • bNiNja on 13/04/2024 - 13:58
    +5

    I use Revanced Manager to patch YouTube, YouTube Music and Reddit.

    Works pretty good.

  • idonotknowwhy on 13/04/2024 - 15:17
    +4

    If you do end up using spotify free, you have a moral obligation to block the ads.

    There's a modded APK file for Android, ublock origin for the browser.

    There's a patched IPA file for iOS if you can get a dev cert setup.

    • buyer-123 on 13/04/2024 - 17:37
      +3

      SpotX for Windows, SpotX-Bash for MacOS and Linux, xManager for Android (don't forget to disable the in-app ads in settings) and SpotC for iOS (and no you do not need a Developer account if you renew the apps every 7 days).

  • snivy on 13/04/2024 - 15:24

    Apparently not https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7030379
    But some people managed to do with Google Hub.

    Interesting that you seem to use this a lot, Google Home/Spotify keeps playing the wrong song when I request it.

    • dynamic007 on 13/04/2024 - 17:30
      +1

      Ah man that sucks. We mainly use it to quiet the kids down in the kitchen "hey google play bluey music"

  • buyer-123 on 13/04/2024 - 17:38
    +4

    Free Premium options

    (posting in top level comment for visibility)

    SpotX for Windows, SpotX-Bash for MacOS and Linux, xManager for Android (don't forget to disable the in-app ads in settings) and SpotC for iOS (and no you do not need a Developer account if you renew the apps every 7 days).

  • Thaal Sinestro on 13/04/2024 - 18:56
    +1

    Deezer are dropping free completely. I think I have a few days to sign up, as an ex-customer, for a 3 months for the price of 1 plan. There used to be programs that let you rip lossless music from Deezer, but I have no idea what works now. When you listen to a song normally all the data for the track gets sent to you but the default software disallows saving. YouTube is the same, but there are heaps of programs that let you rip entire videos or just the audio.

  • Vomo on 13/04/2024 - 19:21

    Brave offline playlist from YouTube.

  • plastererJazz on 14/04/2024 - 08:04
    +1

    Just Youtube Turish or India or Spa

    It's around $2AUD/month where I get NoAds and Premium Youtube Music. Play in the background, skipping, etc.

    It's a great experience on tablets and Phones, less hassle

  • GodsSon23 on 14/04/2024 - 14:38

    Spotify free is completely unusable now. It used to be okay. You could skip ads and you wouldn't get too many of them, but now there are multiple ads every couple of songs.

  • curryblender on 14/04/2024 - 14:40

    Xmanager… Was paying customer but they keep increasing prices so

  • Jules_d1 on 15/04/2024 - 09:04

    I recently cancelled Spotify and now just use YouTube music that I have as part of premium (VPN)

  • frugalftw on 15/04/2024 - 09:06
    +1

    Amazon music is free if you are paying for prime anyway ($79/year). I’m trying it out at the moment. Worth it so far as I mostly listen to my audiobooks and not fussy about music.

  • Ramrunner on 17/04/2024 - 15:12

    We're in the same boat but we really like Tidal and now that lossless, HiRes FLAC, and Dolby Atmos is included in the normal Tier (which admittedly is only 50c less than what spotify wants to become now), we're switching.

    I think Spotify will see some blowback here. They've been promising HiRes audio for 3 years now and really have given us nothing we use yet bumping prices all the time.

    bye bye good riddance for now.

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