Key Takeaways
- Spotify’s free tier includes forced song shuffle, limited skips, and lower music quality, making a subscription appealing.
- Ways to access Spotify Premium for free include new account trials offered by Spotify itself, PayPal, through Microsoft Rewards and Tinder. You can also share a Duo or Family plan, as well as get free Spotify access with a new device.
- Spotify Premium offers benefits like ad-free music, offline downloads, and higher recording quality.
There are fewer better things to accompany you throughout the day than your favorite tunes blasting in your ears. Whether you have some work to do, you need to catch up on your chores, or simply want to wind down a bit and relax, a fitting playlist is an excellent choice to make all these things better.
That’s why music streaming services such as Spotify are so popular. They let you easily jam to millions of songs available on the platform, without the need for any physical media. However, they always come with some annoyances, especially if you’re using a free version of the app.
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It’s true that Spotify’s free tier lets you listen to music without time limits, but there are other constraints that you have to deal with without a subscription. You can only play music on shuffle, you only have a limited number of song skips, and the quality of the music is not the best — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of how Spotify wants to convince you to subscribe to its monthly payment.
That being said, if you’re handy enough, there are some ways to play the system a bit and start using all the Premium benefits without actually paying for the subscription. If you want to check out all the features of the service, or simply need a music service for just a few months, it’s a great way to fulfill all your musical needs while saving some cash.
1 Start a new Spotify account
Being new has its benefits
Spotify is well-known for its generous trial offerings, letting you test out the service for months for completely free. The individual plan offers 3-months of a free trial period, while the other tiers give you the ability to check them out for a month without paying.
Of course, there is a catch. All these free trials are only available for new Spotify users. That means, if you’ve already used them on your account, you’re not eligible for another one, nor can you use it if you’re already paying for a Premium subscription.
So, if you’re already a Spotify user, but still want to use a free trial period, you’ll have to create a new Spotify account with a new email address. After setting up your payment method, you’ll be granted a free trial period.
2 Use a PayPal account to sign up for Spotify
Sign up and listen for free
If you’re after a free trial period for Spotify Premium, getting it straight from Spotify is not your only option. PayPal is actually offering exactly the same deal for its users, letting them get their first 3 months of Spotify Premium Individual for completely free.
Once again, the catch is that you need to be a new Spotify user to be eligible for the free trial. If that applies to you, all you need to do is use PayPal as your payment method when setting up your Premium subscription, and the first three months will be completely free.
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3 Use Microsoft Rewards to redeem 3 months of Spotify Premium
Bing — there goes your free Spotify
A free Spotify Premium trial is quite a popular offer everywhere, and Microsoft got on that bandwagon as well. The three months of free Spotify Premium are a part of the Microsoft Rewards program, which allows you to redeem points for various different awards.
The free Premium trial is, in fact, one of the easiest rewards to get in the program. All you need to do is sign up to the Microsoft Rewards program and perform 3 Bing searches over a 14-day period. After that, you’ll be eligible for the free Spotify Premium trial, and you can continue accumulating your points to redeem other awards as well.
Of course, keep in mind that this offer is also directed only towards new Spotify users that have never subscribed to Premium before, so you might need to create a new Spotify account for it to work.
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4 Use Tinder to get 4 months of free Spotify Premium
Swipe to the rhythm
If you’re feeling lonely and a little bit bored, opening your Tinder app and swiping through some profiles, maybe striking up a conversation or two, is quite a natural thing to do. However, if you want to build up the mood, getting your romantic playlist on would be an excellent idea.
Fortunately, Tinder also thought of that and the platform is offering a free Spotify Premium trial for its users. It’s a bit longer trial period than the one offered by Spotify itself, giving you 4 months of free Premium account. This means you have plenty of time to swipe through all potential matches. That being said, it’s once again an offer only for new Spotify users, so if you’re already using Spotify Premium – or used to do it in the past – you’ll need to create a new account to be eligible for this trial period.
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5 Join a Family or Duo plan to listen for free
Let others take care of you
Let’s be honest, sometimes the free trial offers are a bit too limiting – they might be a tad too short for you, or creating a new account in order to use them only for a bit is simply not something you want to do. Fortunately, you can still listen to Spotify for free, provided you find someone to share their Premium subscription with you.
Thanks to higher subscription tiers, such as Spotify Duo or Spotify Family, you can create two (with Duo) or up to six (with Family) accounts using only one subscription. So, if your family has a lot of music listeners, or you have a friend using a Duo subscription without anyone to pair it up with — you could just join up and start listening for free.
5 Spotify settings I use to get the most out of my TTPD listening
Taylor Swift’s lengthy album requires repeated listening and careful preparation.
6 Get Spotify for free with your device purchase
Buy a new phone and get a library full of tunes
There is one more way to get a free Spotify subscription. When you’re buying a new piece of tech, such as a tablet or a phone, manufacturers often offer various bundles with their devices. Spotify is quite often one of these included features.
So, when ordering a new smartphone or other electronics, check the fine print for any additional services included in the deal. There, you might find an offer for either a free trial period for Spotify, or a free subscription period. The first one means it’s eligible only for new Spotify users, while the latter is usually a code that you can redeem even if you’re already subscribed to Spotify Premium.
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FAQ
Q: What are good Spotify alternatives?
Even though Spotify is undoubtedly the most widely-known music streaming service, it’s not the only one. There are many options available if you don’t want to use this particular app for whatever reason.
If you’re an Apple user, Apple Music will probably be the most convenient one, as it integrates very well into the Apple ecosystem. It also has a really wide library of songs, so you won’t be missing out on any popular releases.
If you’re after audio quality, Tidal is a great choice for you. It offers excellent, lossless audio files for no extra charge, which makes you really feel like an audiophile, especially if you pair the service with a nice set of headphones.
Of course, these are not the only choices you have. There is Amazon Music, which will be a convenient place for Amazon Prime lovers, or even YouTube Music and SoundCloud. Just pick your poison and start listening!
Q: Is Spotify free?
Spotify is the biggest music streaming service for many reasons, but one of the most important ones is its free tier. You can actually use the platform without paying anything, and still have access to the whole music library available.
Of course, this free tier comes with a range of limitations that are there to persuade you to buy a monthly subscription. That being said, if you don’t mind having to listen to an advertisement now and again, and having your songs shuffled randomly — among other quirks of the free tier — you can easily use Spotify completely for free.
Q: What perks does a Spotify Premium subscription offer?
So, speaking of the premium subscription, what exactly changes once you start paying for Spotify? There are a range of benefits for subscribers ranging from user experience improvements to additional features. Here’s a breakdown of what you’re getting for your money:
- Listen to music without ads
- Play songs in any order you want
- Download your music for offline listening
- Listen to higher quality music files
- Access Spotify’s audiobook library
Q: What Spotify subscription plans are there?
Spotify does not only offer a single subscription tier. The platform has a few different options for you to choose from, which differ mainly in the number of users that can use a single account. That way, you can easily provide a music subscription for the whole family, or share one monthly payment among friends. Here are the subscription tiers:
- Individual: For $10.99/month you get a standard Spotify subscription for one user that includes all the aforementioned perks
- Student: It’s the same subscription as Spotify Individual, but students of approved universities around the world can use the service with a discount, paying only $5.99/month
- Duo: The Duo subscription allows you to use two Spotify premium accounts and costs only $14.99/month
- Family: The Family plan enables creating up to 6 Premium or Kids accounts using one subscription. Speaking of, it also gives you access to Spotify Kids, letting you choose what kinds of content Kids accounts using your subscription can listen to. The plan costs $16.99
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