SPOTIFY, seriously?
“Free” account holders of the music streaming platform are one feature less as synchronized lyrics will be available for paying users only. From the downgrade update of their like button, then this?
Synchronized lyrics were tested as a Spotify Premium feature in September 2023 in several markets. More users are now reporting to be affected by this change. This follows previous limitations on free accounts, including limited skips per hour and shuffled playback.
Spotify has not released any announcement, but Reddit users showed their disappointment after a user posted a picture of a pop-up message on their Spotify app saying, “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium. Explore Premium”
“Next thing: Upgrade to Premium to use our app!” a Reddit user commented.
Other users criticized the move saying, “I absolutely hate this change. It’s just below the belt.”
“They’re taking away features, [accessibility features, mind you!] that we’ve already had access to, and making us pay more for them. This should not be happening, might switch services if they don’t change it. Mad,” another Reddit user said.
Spotify’s free account tier became a selling-point for music listeners who prioritize saving money over features and audio quality. Non-paying users still have access to millions of songs despite the limitations, and they can also still make their personal playlist and share their music choices, depending on their mood, to their social media accounts.
It can be recalled that in October 2023, Spotify increased the subscription prices for premium users in the Philippines—the second time in less than a year following a previous hike in November 2022.
Current monthly premium pricing tiers include: individual at PHP 149 (previously Php 129), duo for PHP 199 (previously PHP 185), and family for PHP 239 (previously Php 194).
The student plan promo offer remains unchanged at PHP 75 per month. The same goes for the mini plan at PHP 7 per day.
