Spotify launches new Unlimited and Open services
Spotify, the rapidly growing music streaming service, is now offering two new service options to its users, Unlimited and Open, that “complement” the Premium and Free services already available.
Spotify Unlimited will offer unlimited playback of tunes without interruptions from ads for £4.99 a month. However, unlike the pricier Premium option, users can only access the songs on their PC’s and are not able to take them out on the go on their mobiles.
Spotify Open is similar to the Free option already available. The full Spotify catalogue is available to Open users, supported by adds, free of charge. However, Open users will have a limit on how much music they can listen to in a month, capped at 20 hours. Great news for those looking to get in on the service, which up until now has been invite only, but those cap-free Free invites are now set to be quite sought after.
The introduction of a smaller payment option and a cap does suggest however that Spotify are looking to phase out the Free option altogether, though they deny this.
“Spotify Free will continue to provide ad-supported music to our 7m+ users across Europe, with new users still able to sign up to the current Free service by obtaining one of the many millions of invites currently available” says their release.
Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO, said: “Up until today, new Spotify users have had two options – either subscribe to the full Spotify Premium experience or receive a Spotify Free invite from a friend.
“Following Spotify’s major upgrade, we wanted to give music fans new ways to enjoy the service. Now everyone who wants a great introduction to Spotify without an invite, or who wants to enjoy unlimited, ad-free music just on their computers, can do so.”
Spotify also announced that the streaming service is now available in the Netherlands.
Interested in the new options, or sceptical over Spotify’s long-term motives concerning the free service? Let us know.
