Spotify’s event today unveils new features of the free version of their mobile app, including on-demand music and data-saver mode.
Today’s Spotify event has been long-awaited especially with all the leaks that’s been circulating. And the speculations are indeed correct: Spotify is beefing up their free tier service in order to attract more users.
Spotify’s Chief R&D Officer Gustav Söderström introduced the brand new free version of the Spotify mobile app at the event. This is the first major change since its launch in 2014.
Previously, non-paying subscribers can only listen to music on shuffle on their mobile apps. Being able to choose the songs they wanted to listen to was only possible through the desktop app. And even then, a limit was set to the number of hours a user can stream free music every month.
Now, free users can listen on-demand to any song they want without limit provided those songs appear on one of the 15 personalised discovery playlists. This includes Daily Mix, Discover Weekly and Today’s Top Hits.
The company is also introducing a new feature they call assisted playlisting. Basically, Spotify will make recommendations based on what songs you add to your playlist.
Another new feature that would make users very happy (and their wallets too), is the data saver mode. Previously, the company didn’t allow offline listening for free. The app now has a built-in low-data mode that cuts data by up to 75 percent! The company is optimising the music streaming and the app (such as images) to save data and power.
Advertisements are of course, still ever-present in the free version of the app. After all, this is how the company makes money. And this is how they convince free users to convert into a paying subscriber.
The redesigned app is rolling out globally in the coming weeks.
