‘Spotify considers limiting offer for free users’

Spotify may give artists the choice of whether their music can be served to all or only paying members of the service. Currently, the full range is available to users with a free account; so that could change.

According to sources from The Wall Street Journal, Spotify is in talks with music companies about the possible new rule. Initially it would be a test. Spotify would like to investigate whether limiting the free offer affects the use of the service and the number of subscriptions sold. It would not have been decided yet which artists will get the choice. However, according to the anonymous source of the American newspaper, it is clear that Spotify does not yet want to make a complete change in its policy.

Currently, artists who make their music available on Spotify don’t have the choice of whether their work is available to everyone or only to paying members. The management of Taylor Swift therefore decided last year to remove her entire music collection from Spotify. Initially, it requested Spotify to make its 1989 album available in the United States only to paying members. The service did not honor that request, after which Swift removed her music. If the conversations are correct, Spotify now seems to want to respond to this wish from the music industry.

Currently, the Spotify offer for paid and free members is the same. Subscription users can also download songs and choose their own music at any time. Those who use the service for free will hear advertisements and can only use the shuffle option in the app.
Spotify has more than 20 million users with a paid subscription. There are also about eighty million people who use the service for free.