Spotify Announces On-Demand Playlists For Free Users

Spotify has announced that it has begun rolling out a redesigned app experience for its free customers. Spotify free listeners will now have on-demand access to 15 playlists, which will allow them to play any song they want within those playlists.

Spotify officially announced the revamped free tier experience in New York City today. The new on-demand playlists are also accompanied by a redesign of the mobile app, which Spotify says is in the process of rolling out to everyone, according to The Verge.

The 15 on-demand playlists include Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, Release Radar and Today’s Top Hits. Users will be able to play any song they want from any of those playlists and as many times as they want without having to shuffle. In total, Spotify is offering around 750 tracks or around 40 hours of music available to its free users on-demand, according to TechCrunch. Previously, users in the free tier were only allowed to shuffle songs that are part of playlists.

The revamped Spotify free tier that was announced today is very much the same redesign that IBTimes reported almost a week ago. The new user interface shows quick access to playlists and a redesigned bottom navigation bar that includes a “Premium” button.

Spotify also announced today that its updated app will now be able to assist users discover songs. The updated app can suggest songs that are similar to what they’ve previously searched for. Spotify calls the new feature as “assisted playlisting.” Additionally, free users will now be able to choose their favorite artists as soon as they open the app. This allows Spotify to provide free users with personalized playlists as soon as possible.

The last new feature that Spotify announced with its revamped experience is a low-data mode called “data saver.” When this is turned on, the Spotify app will cut down data consumption by up to 75 percent. Spotify says the feature works by optimizing how the app streams music and how imagery and UI elements in the app are loaded. This would be particularly useful for users who are trying to save up and not reach their monthly data caps. After all, users in the free tier of Spotify aren’t allowed to download tracks for offline listening.

Spotify’s new free tier experience feels like it gained some premium features. Revamping its free tier is a huge priority for the Swedish music streaming company since around 90 million users are part of it. The company’s goal is to keep those customers happy and hopefully some of those will turn into paying subscribers.

As of Dec. 31, 2017, Spotify has 71 million paying subscribers. Earlier this month, it was reported that Apple Music has already surpassed 40 million paid subscribers and analysts believe it could overtake Spotify in the summer. With Spotify revamping its free tier, it could give the company the edge to hamper the growth of Apple Music, which only has a three-month free trial period without an ad-supported free tier.