Spotify made a few big announcements this week that we wanted to be sure you knew.
• Spotify launches a free tier on mobile and tablet. Spotify is giving access to its catalog of over 20 million songs across all mobile devices for free. Spotify is now available free and ad supported on any platform: mobile (with limited functionality), tablet, desktop.
• Spotify launches in 20 new markets bringing the total number of markets Spotify is available in to 55. (Listed below)
• Led Zeppelin arrives on Spotify – the legendary album catalog is available for on-demand streaming exclusively on Spotify starting today.
See below for more detail along with a comparison chart showing the differences between Mobile Free, Desktop & Tablet Free and Premium.
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Spotify’s new free mobile experience –
Let’s you shuffle play:
• Your music: Listen to all the playlists you’ve created and playlists from the people you follow. Spotify lets you discover new music, save, shuffle and share.
• Your favorite artists: Want to listen to a certain artist? Just hit shuffle play, sit back and listen to their entire catalog.
• Discover great new playlists: On Browse there’s a playlist for every mood, genre or moment.
Why are we doing this?
We know our users want to share their music, want to listen to THEIR music, and if they want to listen to a particular artist, they don’t want to only hear a track from that artist every 20 minutes. By allowing users to listen to their playlists and artist catalogs in shuffle mode we allow them to listen and share in a way that allows them access to the music and artists they want to hear.
We are increasingly in a mobile-first world, with the vast majority of 18-34 years olds mostly listening to music on their phones. We see from our users that if they listen on mobile/tablet/desktop, they listen to 2.5x more music than those who only listen on desktop.
Most users are now coming in via mobile and there has been no free mobile product outside of USA. The only free mobile music solution for most people around the world has been piracy.
For continued long term growth we need a free mobile product. A higher volume of free users means more potential subscribers to Spotify Premium. We know that people are more likely to subscribe to Spotify Premium after trying the free product first for an extended time period. A free mobile product extends this to mobile users thereby greatly increasing the pool of potential Premium Subscribers.
Is it different from competitors’ mobile free products?
The functionality available in allowing shuffle play of playlists and entire artist catalogs differentiates it from every other existing mobile free product.
What are the limitations?
- no offline play
- no on demand play
- no linear play
- limit of 6 skips per hour
- 6 song limit from a single album per hour
- 3 song limit consecutively from a given album
- a user will not be able to hear/play 1 song more than 1x per hour
- playlists shorter than 12 tracks will have similar tracks inserted
Will there be label inventory?
The mobile free tier is ad supported, initially with audio ads. Ex-USA, labels will begin to have access to these from Jan 1st 2014. USA audio ads will run immediately.
Is there a premium upsell?
If the user attempts on demand play they are advised, “Spotify Premium is required for on demand streaming”.
Is there a new app to download?
There is no need for a new app as there is only one Spotify Mobile/Tablet App for both Free and Premium users.
How can I try the new mobile free tier?
If you create a free account and log in on mobile you will first receive a free 48 hour free trial of Premium. After the 48 hours you will then be able to experience the new mobile free tier.
Tablet free
In recognition that tablets are becoming the new desktops, starting today, iOS and Android tablet users can enjoy the same free Spotify experience that they’ve grown to love on their computer.
New market launches:
Hungary, Czech Republic, Malta, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Cyprus, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, El Salvador, Paraguay, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bolivia