Spotify has been facing pressure from record labels to kill off its free, ad-supported streaming service for a while now, but it looks likes the company is finally going to cave in. While the free option shouldn’t be disappearing anytime soon, you can expect some new restrictions to be added in the near future. While the terms are still being discussed, people using the free version of Spotify won’t have the same kind of access to content that premium users will.
Although it should continue to provide a free, ad-supported tier, Spotify is reportedly planning to limit some of its music content to Premium subscribers in reaction to pressure from record labels. Some songs or albums may only be available to paying Premium users, whether permanently or temporarily, sources explained to Digital Music News. The exact set of restrictions has yet to be settled, but a free listener might only be able to hear a popular album for a limited amount of time, or listen to just one or two songs from it. One or multiple variations of these concepts could be put into play. The transition will likely happen in early 2016, the people said. This would not only give Spotify the time to cement licensing deals but produce updated Web, desktop, and mobile apps. The sources claimed that the company is responding to pressure from the three largest music labels — Sony, Warner, and Universal — ahead of an October 1 renewal deadline. The CEOs of Sony and Universal in particular have vocally opposed ad-based tiers, since they’re thought to devalue catalogs, and typically generate less revenue.
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