Online streaming service Spotify is ramping up the pressure to encourage regular users to pay for the service.
Users can currently listen for free (with occasional ads) to almost all the tracks available as many times as they like on a computer, but pay extra to listen without ads, on mobile devices, and for premium content such as some headline new releases.
But from 1 May, changes to the free service will include:
• Availability of the free service as it now exists (unlimited plays with ads) will be limited to the first six months for new users
• Anyone who signed up to the free service on or before 1 November 2010 will only be able to play each track for free a maximum of five times.
• Anyone who signed up after 1 November 2010 will see these changes applied six months after the time they set up their Spotify account.
• Free users will be limited to a limit of ten hours listening time a month after the first six months. Spotify says this is equivalent to around 200 tracks or 20 albums.
A Spotify spokesperson said: “The changes we’re having to make will mainly affect heavier Spotify Free and Open users,” and claimed that most ‘free’ users won’t notice any difference since they tend to listen to an average of 50 tracks per month.
Spotify’s Unlimited and Premium services are unaffected by the changes, and during May there’ll be a 30-day free trial for Spotify Premium.