Spotify Free vs. Premium: Should You Pay?
You’ve probably heard of Spotify if you’re a huge music fan or if you’re just trying to figure out how to stream your favorite songs online. Spotify has become the preferred music streaming network with over 345 million subscribers globally and a vast library of over 70 million tracks. Many users ask if paying to the Premium plan, which offers more features than the free tier, is worthwhile. We’ll go over the differences between Spotify Premium and Free in this post and assist you in selecting the plan that works best for you.
Spotify Free: The Basics
The free version of the music streaming service is called Spotify Free. You may make and share your own playlists, access an extensive music library, and listen to expertly curated playlists. There are a few restrictions, though:
- Ads: It can be a slight irritation for free users to have to sit through commercials in between songs.
- Restricted skips: If you’re looking for the ideal track, it can be annoying since you can only skip six songs every hour.
- No offline listening: It’s challenging to listen to your favorite songs without an internet connection for free users since they are unable to download music for offline playback.
- Reduced sound quality: Due to the reduced bitrate used for streaming, the sound quality of Spotify Free is not as good as it could be.
- Shuffle play: There is no way for free users to select the song order; they can only listen to playlists and albums in shuffle mode.
Spotify Premium: The Perks
Gaining access to Spotify Premium has various advantages, such as:
- Premium subscribers are able to listen to music without interruption or commercials.
Unlimited skips: You are free to skip any number of tracks at any time. - Listening offline: Prepare your preferred tunes, albums, and playlists for offline enjoyment – ideal for long drives or situations without internet access.
- Improved sound quality: Up to 320 kbps of music is available to Premium users, providing a discernible boost in audio quality.
- On-demand playback: You are not restricted to shuffle play and can listen to any song, album, or playlist in any order.
- Cross-device listening: Continue listening to your music even as you move between devices with ease.
Conclusion
The choice to upgrade to Spotify Premium ultimately boils down to your own priorities and listening tastes. It might not be worth upgrading if the restrictions of the free version don’t bother you. But, it can be worthwhile to think about the Premium option if you find yourself getting annoyed by advertisements, a lack of playback control, or restricted skips. For a $9.99 monthly subscription price, you can get better music streaming for a comparatively modest amount of money.
