As a music lover, you may have tried all the music streaming services like YouTube Music, Spotify, and Apple Music to determine your favorite. While some prefer YouTube Music, most music enthusiasts choose Spotify, which has almost 30% of the music streaming market share.
Spotify offers two options: free with limited features or premium with more control. Many prefer premium to avoid the irritating ads on the free version. But, does it make a significant difference between Spotify Free and Spotify Premium? Let's explore why people prefer premium and why others still prefer free Spotify.
Features with Spotify premium which you donβt get with free Spotify
- With the free Spotify, you can skip only six songs per hour whereas, with the premium plan, you can skip several songs and have no restrictions like 6 songs per hour. addition to this you can repeat the same song or you can also repeat the playlist an unlimited number of times.
- Many said there is a significant difference in the audio quality between free and premium Spotify. with Spotify Premium, you can listen to music up to 320 kbps bitrate whereas Spotify Free delivers from 24 kbps to 160 kbps. with the free plan, you get three levels of audio qualities, Low, Normal, and high. with the premium plan along with these three, you get very high audio quality with 320 kbps. But in my opinion, it's hard to catch the difference between audio quality unless you have an audiophile-grade setup. I was trying to catch the difference between the audio quality of the free and premium Spotify plan with my tozo t10 but honestly, It was hard to catch the difference.
- Like the YT music premium plan, you can download the music and enjoy it offline with the Spotify premium plan but it's not possible with the free Spotify plan. I think it's the most significant difference and the strong reason to switch from free to premium Spotify. Downloading the music and listening to it offline can save your data and save your mobile's battery. This feature is useful in hiking where you don't have an internet connection.
- The most obvious reason for most of the people who prefer Premium Spotify over free is annoying, irritating ads with the free plan. you are in a mood to enjoy the music and within a few seconds, you hear something irrelevant and with the interruption in music. Of course, it's super annoying for anybody. it spoils your mood.
Spotify desktop Vs Spotify Mobile
Great convenience for you when you can access the web and mobile Spotify with ease. You can easily download the desktop version from the Spotify official website. No matter you have a Mac or Windows, it works on both operating systems.
The updated desktop version of Spotify with the new UI looks like the mobile library section of the Spotify mobile app which is more convenient for browsing while the desktop app offers better service due to a larger screen.
Spotify brought a useful feature called "Spotify Connect" which allows you to play Spotify on different devices seamlessly. In short, you can control music on hardware devices like speakers, computers, etc. with your Spotify mobile app with the help of the Spotify Connect feature.
for instance, the music you are playing on your mobile can transfer to the wireless speaker via Spotify Connect. all necessary tasks like raising or lowering volume, and backward or forward tracking can be performed through the Spotify mobile app.
Spotify DJ mode
Did you know that Spotify has a feature called "Spotify AI DJ" that helps you discover new music based on your taste? Once you listen to your favorite tracks on Spotify, its powerful algorithm identifies your preferences and serves you with what you want.
This feature is only available for premium subscribers and is currently available in 50 countries. According to the Spotify newsroom, they may expand this feature to more countries shortly. No more wasting time searching for your favorite songs and spoiling your mood.
Shuffle Vs Smart Shuffle
Do you know what is shuffle mode? It plays songs randomly and feels sometimes annoying because the content or song isn't relevant to your taste. But you have another feature if you are on a premium Spotify plan.
it's called Smart Shuffle. Smart shuffle is a mixture of randomized songs and recommended songs that are based on your activity which means Spotify smart shuffle takes care of what you like and dislike.
Smart shuffle works in a playlist you choose as well as on your liked songs. When I activated the smart shuffle with the double touch on the shuffle button, some recommended content was added with the * symbol.
that added songs was feeling related to the currently playing track. This is also a significant feature you only get with a premium Spotify plan.
this is the best way to keep your playlist fresh with newly added music that also matches your taste.
Conclusion
I recently tried out Spotify's free plan for a couple of months before deciding to upgrade to their Premium version. During my time with the free plan, I noticed a few differences between the two options.
Firstly, the ads on the free plan can be quite disruptive to the listening experience, particularly if you are a devoted music fan. If you want to listen to music uninterrupted, then upgrading to Premium is definitely worth considering.
Another major difference between the two is the level of control you have over your playlists. With the Premium plan, you have complete control over what you listen to, whereas with the free plan, you are more limited.
The third difference is in terms of music quality. While you may not notice a significant difference between the two on ordinary audio gear, audiophile-grade equipment will make it clear that Premium offers better quality sound at 320 kbps, while the free plan only offers 160 kbps.
Finally, the offline download feature of Spotify Premium is a real game-changer, particularly for those who travel or spend time in areas without internet connectivity. If you are a commuter or enjoy outdoor activities, then this feature alone may make upgrading to Premium well worth it.
In summary, there are many reasons why Spotify Premium is a better option than the free plan, including ad-free listening, greater playlist control, better music quality, and the ability to download music for offline listening.