Spotify offering free premium subscriptions for three months

Additionally, Spotify said subscribers who cancelled their Premium subscription before 15 July for any reason can reclaim it with the first three months discounted to the cost of one month’s subscription.

Both offers are available to first-time users as well as those using the free ad-supported plan across 135 markets globally. After the trial period ends, subscriptions will renew automatically at the normal monthly fee.

Premium gives subscribers a better music listening experience with no adverts between songs unlike the free, ad-supported tier, which is interrupted by ads.

On the freemium plan, users cannot opt to listen to a specific song when they want, but have to play a randomised playlist containing the track. Premium also allows unlimited skips for playlists, while that function is limited on the free tier, forcing its users to listen to tracks they do not want. The ad-supported plan does not offer an off-line listening option, and the audio quality is lower than that of other subscription plans.

Spotify’s new offer could see a spike in its total monthly active users in the third quarter ending 30 September. In the second quarter, the platform’s subscriber growth exceeded its expectations with 433 million monthly active users (MAUs) and 188 million subscribers of which six million joined the platform in that quarter. 

Spotify made a foray into Africa first launching in South Africa in 2017, two years after Apple Music — the leading music streaming service in Africa in terms of subscribers — entered the continent. The Swedish service boasts a vast music catalogue with more than 82 million tracks, including about 4 million podcasts.

Meanwhile, Apple Music reduced its free three-trial period to one month in February.