Spotify Ends Song Selection Restrictions for free Users
September 16, 2025 – In a move poised to impact hundreds of millions of listeners, Spotify has lifted restrictions on song selection for it’s free users. Previously limited to shuffled playlists with a cap of six skips per hour, free users can now utilize features like “Pick & Play,” “search & Play,” and “Share & Play” to directly choose the music they want to hear.
The change, announced September 15th in a Spotify Newsroom blog post, grants free users the ability to select specific tracks from albums, playlists, search results, and shared links – including those originating from platforms like Instagram Stories – without being forced onto a random track.
This update arrives as Spotify boasts 433 million free users globally, compared to 276 million paying subscribers. While premium features like lossless audio quality (24-bit Flac format) and AI-powered playlist management with customizable instructions remain exclusive to paid subscriptions, Spotify has recently expanded free-tier offerings to include playlist cover personalization, daily Mix playlists adapting to user moods, weekly playlists, and lyric displays.