Before you figure out how much Spotify Premium is going to cost you, see if you qualify for a discounted or even free subscription. Signing up for the service through a partnering company or enrolling as a student could give you the power of 35 million songs for very little money.
Having access to millions of songs comes at a price — albeit, a pretty small one. But before you figure out how much Spotify is going to cost you, though, you’ll want to see if you qualify for a discounted — or even free — subscription, because there are lots of ways to get Spotify for cheaper than the standard subscription.
You can use Spotify for free if you’re fine with some restrictions. With a free account and the desktop software downloaded, you can listen to anything you want on-demand, so long as you’re willing to put up with ads. On the free mobile version, you can only skip six songs an hour, and can’t play specific songs on demand. You also can’t listen online. It’s limited, but it’s free, and that might be enough to sell you on it.
For those willing to spend a little cash, Spotify Premium costs $10 a month. This gives you unlimited, ad-free access to the streaming giant’s more than 35 million songs, and the ability to play music offline. You will also have unlimited access to on-demand music on your mobile device.
If you’re a student, you get an even sweeter price of $5 month, and it comes with a free Hulu subscription. Just make sure you re-register as a student after a year, or Spotify will assume you have graduated and will start charging you the full price.
Those with loved ones who also want to stream music may be more interested in the Spotify Family Premium, which costs $15 a month, and lets you have up to six people under one account. Everyone on the family plan has to have the same address, but we’re pretty sure there are no secret Spotify spies checking to see if everyone on your account actually lives together.
If you sign up for Spotify through your PlayStation 4 before October 10,2018, you’ll save 10 percent on your monthly subscription for as long as you have the PlayStation Plus service.
T-Mobile doesn’t offer free Spotify, but it does let you stream the app without using any data if you have the Simple Choice plan. Also check if the company you work for offers Spotify for free to its employees. Starbucks does so for more than 200,000 of its employees. You may also be able to bundle Spotify Premium with your internet or cell phone provider.
Spotify’s biggest competitor, Apple Music, has the same price points, but we still suggest signing up with Spotify over Apple .
The other notable streaming competitor is Jay-Z’s Tidal. The service has a lot of price points, but the basic premium and family options are the same as Spotify. You can also choose to pay $20 a month for hi-fi versions — which is “lossless, high-fidelity sound — of every song in its catalog. Tidal has its perks, but we moved on from it a while ago.
