Spotify on Monday introduced restrictions on some of its free services in India, as it tries to expand the user base of its paid Premium subscription in the country. Now, some select features are no longer free, and users in India can access these only by taking membership of Spotify Premium.
The Spotify app on an iPad is pictured.
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A screenshot from the Spotify app showing the changes (Image courtesy: Spotify)
The Swedish firm launched its audio streaming services in India in February 2019.
Restricted services
Starting October 9, the day of the announcement, these features, that were free until now, are ‘locked’ or, in other words, will be accessible only to Spotify Premium subscribers:
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(1.) Playing songs in a specific order.
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(1.) Playing songs in a specific order.
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(2.) Tapping back to listen to a particular portion of a song.
(3.) Repeating or going back to a previous song.
What can free users still do?
They can still pick and choose songs to play and listen to these for as long as they want. Song recommendations continue as well.
Spotify Premium
By subscribing to Spotify Premium, a person can: enjoy ad-free music listening, save data by listening offline, play music everywhere (speakers, TV, and other devices) and prepay with Paytm, UPI, and more.
Four plans are on offer: Mini ( ₹7/day; one account on mobile only), Individual ( ₹119/month after 30 days of free trial; one account), Duo ( ₹149/month after one-month free trial; two accounts) and Family ( ₹179/month after 30-day free trial; up to six accounts).
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