How Much Is Spotify Premium and Can You Get a Discount?
Spotify is a digital service through which you can stream music, podcasts and audiobooks. Easily accessed from phones, computers, tablets, TVs, speakers and vehicles, it gives you access to content from creators worldwide.
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In addition to Spotify Free, Spotify offers four kinds of monthly subscription plans. Keep reading to learn about the features and benefits of each of these plans.
How Much Is Spotify Premium?
Spotify provides various subscription plans, including the Individual plan at $10.99 per month, Duo plan at $14.99 per month, Family plan at $16.99 per month and the Student plan at $5.99 per month. Here’s a closer look at each one.
Spotify Premium Individual: $10.99 Per Month
When you opt for this version, you enjoy the following perks:
- Access over 100 million ad-free tracks and 5 million podcast titles
- Better streaming quality
- The functionality to download content, music and podcasts to your phone or other devices
- The ability to download artists, albums or radio songs from Spotify Radio
- Group sessions where your friends can join the party and control what’s playing
There are also no restrictions to traveling abroad with your music or on the mobile app if you are a Spotify Premium user.
Spotify Premium Duo: $14.99 Per Month
Spotify Premium Duo allows you to share access with someone you live with — a family member, partner or friend. Both users get their own Premium accounts at a nice price of about $7.49 a person.
Spotify Premium Family: $16.99 Per Month
If you want to stream content from Spotify as a family, this is the plan for you. Spotify Premium Family allows up to six people under one roof to use one membership, each with their own account. The plan also comes with simplified, effective parental control options and includes a separate Spotify Kids variant for children.
Spotify Premium Student: $5.99 Per Month
If you’re a student, you can access Spotify Premium at just $5.99 a month.
Re-register each year as a student to retain your Premium Student membership for up to four years and also gain access to ad-supported plans from Hulu.
Can You Get a Discount on Spotify?
When you sign up for Spotify Premium for the first time, you can get three months of free access with the Individual or Student plan or one month of free access with the Duo or Family plan.
Spotify works with companies to offer special deals to help you get discounts. These partnership deals change with time. For example, PayPal offers three free months of Spotify Premium to anyone who signs up with PayPal. However, this PayPal offer is a short-term one and expires on Sept. 15, 2023.
Spotify also accepts annual subscription gift cards from retailers like Best Buy and Walmart. These gift cards are almost always cheaper than paying directly through Spotify.
Spotify Free vs. Spotify Premium
Here’s a comparison between Spotify Free and Spotify Premium.
| Feature | Spotify Free | Spotify Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Music library | X | X |
| Ad-free listening | X | |
| Playback control | X | |
| Curated content | X | X |
| Improved sound quality | X | |
| Offline listening | X |
With Spotify Free, you can stream music from Spotify’s content library — including podcasts and audiobooks — at no cost. You also get access to Spotify Radio and recommendations tailored to your tastes.
However, Spotify Free does have some drawbacks. For starters, you repeatedly hear ads between tracks. Further, you can only play songs in shuffle mode except in playlists curated for you by Spotify.
With Spotify Premium, you get ad-free, higher-quality sound. On top of that, you also get to download podcasts and music for offline listening.
While you can certainly save money by sticking to Spotify Free, the customized experience guaranteed by Spotify Premium can make you think twice about it.
Is Spotify Premium Worth It?
The choice between Spotify Free and Spotify Premium is an easy one. The latter offers a significantly more user-friendly listening experience and comes in multiple plans to suit your needs and budget.
However, if you want the premium experience without paying full price, consider picking up an annual subscription gift card from retailers at a discount. You can also look for deals that bundle a Spotify Premium subscription with other offers.
Lastly, consider comparing Spotify with other streaming services that offer similar features, such as Apple Music.
Final Take
The free version of Spotify gives you access to a massive library of over 100 million songs and 5 million podcast titles. It offers excellent value if you don’t mind ads and are content with limited playback control.
However, if you want to escape ads, enjoy better sound quality, fully control your playback and have the option to download audio, signing up for Spotify Premium is the way to go.
Virginia Anderson and Preston Hartwick contributed to the reporting for this article.
The article above was refined via automated technology and then fine-tuned and verified for accuracy by a member of our editorial team.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
