Spotify tightens free user features in India, nudging them towards a premium subscription, while enriching its offerings with diverse regional music. Despite the strategic shifts aimed at elevating subscription numbers, there’s a clear assurance of no imminent price hikes, ensuring accessibility to high-quality audio for its varied user base.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Changes to Spotify’s No-Cost Services
- New Limits for Free Spotify Users in India
- Key Features Removed from Spotify’s Free Offering in India
Spotify, an app that lets people listen to a huge variety of songs, albums, and original podcasts without charge, has recently also begun offering audiobooks, allowing users to dive into numerous stories whenever and wherever they like.
However, there have been some changes to the free services provided by Spotify in India. This article will provide a more in-depth look at those alterations.
The music and podcast app, Spotify, is introducing some new limits to its free users in India. Three beloved features have been removed from its complimentary tier, namely the ability to repeat tracks and manually shuffle playlists.
The head of Spotify India has communicated that the company plans to expand its musical selection in the country, with a special emphasis on local music and an exploration of a wide array of musical genres.
Spotify Removes Three Key Features from Its Free Version
New Restrictions Of Spotify For Free Users In India
Spotify, from October 9, has restricted access to three popular features for its free users in India. If users wish to regain access to these features, they’ll have to subscribe to Spotify Premium. Before this change, the primary distinctions between the free and Premium plans were ad interruptions and song download capability. Now, additional practical features are accessible only with a Premium subscription.
Identifying the Restricted Features for Free Spotify Users in India
Free tier users will no longer be able to:
- Seek through or go back to a specific part of a track.
- Use the Repeat Mode, as this button will be disabled.
- Manually shuffle songs and will instead use Spotify’s Smart Shuffle feature.
It’s important to note that Spotify hasn’t put a limit on the number of songs free plan users can play. Users can still stream unlimited songs, albeit with the above restrictions.
Insight from Spotify’s Indian Leadership
Amarjit Singh Batra, the Managing Director of Spotify India, has officially stated that there are no immediate plans to raise subscription prices in India. Instead of hiking prices, Spotify will add more features to the Premium plan to entice users to upgrade from the free tier. The platform is also committed to providing users with high-quality, non-pirated music.
Understanding the Reason Behind Spotify’s Listening Limitations
Introducing these listening restrictions to free users seems to be a strategic move by Spotify to encourage them to upgrade to the Premium plan. When users are unable to use favorite features like repeat and manual shuffle, they might be inclined to upgrade for an uninterrupted and enhanced listening experience with access to all features.
Concurrently, Spotify aims to attract more users to its free plan in India by offering regional music in various languages and genres.
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