Spotify Expands Free tier, Allowing On-Demand Song Playback
Jakarta, Indonesia – Spotify is rolling out a meaningful update to its free tier, now enabling users worldwide to search and play specific songs on demand, as well as play tracks shared from social media platforms. The new features, dubbed “Pick & Play” and “Share & Play,” represent a major shift from the previous free-tier experience which limited listeners to shuffle play with restricted skips.
The update,reported by Tech Crunch on Wednesday,aims to boost user engagement and advertising exposure. While premium subscribers retain exclusive access to features like lossless streaming, AI playlists, and mixes, all users can now enjoy features like Messages and personalized daylist playlists.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek recently acknowledged the company has been “moving too slowly” in the advertising sector, where it currently generates 11 percent of total revenue – falling short of its 20 percent target for June 2025.
Free users will be subject to a daily “on-demand time” limit. Once reached,playback will revert to limited skips per hour. Spotify has not disclosed the specific duration of the on-demand time allowance.
As of the last quarter, Spotify boasts 696 million monthly active users, with 433 million utilizing the free, ad-supported tier and 276 million subscribing to premium plans.
The company has also recently focused on artist support, having backed over 1,000 musicians through its RADAR program, and recently launched Audio Lossless streaming.
