Spotify is bringing yet another benefit from its paid Premium service to its non-paying customers. Users of the ad-supported free tier will now be able to cast music to Spotify Connect-compatible speakers.
The pioneering service, which is locked in a battle with Apple Music for streaming supremacy, continues to bolster its free offering, this time via the roll out of a new SDK.
In order to enable the new feature, speaker makers will have to switch to the new SDK, but after that it’ll be smooth sailing for Spotify Free users. Here’s the list of speakers compatible with Spotify Connect.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said: “The release of our new eSDK will change the game for Spotify’s Free users who want to enjoy music on their connected speakers. We look forward to supporting our partners over the coming months as they update existing speakers and bring new products to market.”
Related: Spotify vs Apple Music
While the move is great news who don’t feel the need to pay for music, Spotify’s decision is unlikely to please Premium subscribers who’ve gradually seen their exclusive benefits chipped away at.
In April, Spotify added on-demand streaming of playlists as well as personalised artist and song recommendations. The company also added a data saving feature that automatically caches songs users like to play, in order to minimise data expenditure.
While handy, that latter feature is dangerously close to blurring the lines between the offline downloads feature reserved for Premium users. Of course, Spotify Premium users still benefit from an ad-free experiences, but many may be questioning whether that’s worth £10/$10 a month.
Spotify’s decision to leverage its free tier is easily explainable though: Apple Music doesn’t have one.
Are you a Spotify Premium user considering cancelling your subscription if the firm keeps chipping away at the benefits you pay for? Or are you happy as long as you avoid ads and keep offline playlists sacred? Let us know @TrustedReviews on that there Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
