Spotify’s free users can finally play the songs they want

Spotify has removed restrictions that prevented free users from listening to specific tracks. With lossless audio now finally rolling out to paying subscribers, the music streaming service has announced that it’s also allowing non-paying listeners to search, play, and share any song they want, without having to upgrade to a Premium subscription. The update is being rolled out globally and addresses one of the most annoying limitations of Spotify’s shuffle-only free experience. Instead of playing the specific song a free user had searched for or selected in an album or playlist, Spotify would previously launch tracks in a randomized order that forced users to skip songs until they reached the one they actually wanted to play, with skips limited to six per hour. Now, non-paying users can “pick and play any song you want,” according to Spotify. There are still some restrictions in place, however, with CNET reporting that free users can only listen to one song before the app starts shuffling. “Only Spotify Premium users have complete control to play and skip music without restrictions. Mobile listeners of the updated free experience will be able to tap on any song or search for what they’d like to play, or if they don’t like a track or simply want to hear what’s next, skip the occasional song and carry on listening,” Spotify spokesperson Luke Mackay told The Verge. “Each user has a daily allocated amount of on-demand time. Once this limit is reached, users will then be limited to six-skips per hour.” The free experience will also still include ads, but this update gives free listeners fewer reasons to use rival streaming services like YouTube when they want to play a specific song without dancing around shuffle-skipping requirements. This also helps Spotify’s desire to get users sharing music links online, given that non-paying users previously couldn’t immediately play songs that friends had shared on social media platforms. Update, September 15th: Added a statement from Spotify.