Spotify has increased its free trial from one month to three months in a fresh bid to pull in more subscribers.
The streaming giant is now offering would-be subscribers three months of a full Spotify Premium membership at no charge.
While this only applies to new subscribers, the company is also offering a three month subscription for the price of one (£9.99) to anyone who cancelled their Spotify Premium subscription before July 15 of this year.
This new three month Spotify Premium free trial is valid only until September 11, so don’t expect it to be the new norm.
While Spotify might appear to be clawing back subscribers at a tricky time for the industry, it actually reported strong figures for the second quarter of the year, with 188 million paid Premium subscribers representing a rise from 182 million in Q1.
This strong 2022 performance comes despite the loss of some 1.5 million Russian subscribers and the rolling controversy surrounding the Joe Rogan podcast.
It also comes as other media streaming services are struggling. Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year and 1 million in the second.
Of course, that can partly be attributed to the company issuing a(nother) price hike on the eve of a cost of living crisis, and partly on the presence of a giant rival in Disney, which recently overhauled Netflix’s subscriber base with its various streaming platforms.
Spotify hasn’t faced quite such an assault on its imperious position in the music streaming business, at least yet.
It has faced a number of missteps in recent times, however. Besides the aforementioned Joe Rogan controversy, the company has received criticism for its muddled integration of podcasts into the previously music-only service.
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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.
