Something’s Different About Spotify—And Free Users Are Loving It
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Spotify has been busy beefing up its streaming service lately. Following the launch of lossless audio for Premium subscribers, the company is now rolling out fresh perks aimed at users on the free tier. The latest update lifts the long-standing shuffle-only playback restriction, allowing listeners to play any song they want, including tracks found via search or shared playlists.
Previously, users on the ad-supported plan were stuck with shuffle-only playback, meaning they couldn’t choose specific songs or podcasts directly from albums or playlists. Shuffle was also limited to just six skips per hour. Now, Spotify is removing those frictions and bringing the mobile experience closer to what’s available on desktop. Well, almost.
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Play Any Song or Skip It Without Paying Spotify
According to Spotify, non-paying listeners can now play or skip any song they find in the app, whether it’s inside a playlist or from search results. This perk also applies to shared tracks: if a friend or family member sends you a song, you can tap to play it, which is something that wasn’t possible before.
This marks a major shift for Spotify’s free tier. It gives the platform a competitive edge over rivals like YouTube Music and Pandora, which offer free streaming but with more limitations and frequent ads. Even Apple Music, which only offers short previews without a true free tier, may feel the pressure.
Additionally, this move could attract more free users given these are already the largest segment of Spotify’s user base. This also potentially converts them into paying subscribers more easily.
Ads Are Still Part of the Free Experience
Despite the upgrade, some restrictions remain. In a statement to CNET, Spotify confirmed that shuffle-only playback will resume once a user’s "daily on-demand time" runs out, though the company hasn’t specified how long that window lasts. And yes, ad interruptions are still part of the free experience.
So while it’s not quite on par with the desktop version, which allows full playback and skipping with only ads in between. Nonetheless, this update is a strong step toward bringing premium-like features to free users.
Earlier this month, Spotify also launched its long-awaited lossless audio feature. Premium subscribers can now stream nearly the entire catalog in 24-bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC format through wired connections. The feature is available on the Premium plan, which starts at $12 per month.
Have you used Spotify before? Are these new freemium features enough to bring you back? Let us know your thoughts.
I dropped spotify about a year ago. These streaming services, yeah, I get it...they have ads, but good grief! Too many ads! I've started going back to just ripping MP3's and playing those.