Spotify, the popular music streaming giant, has announced new restrictions for free users in India to encourage them to consider the company’s premium service offerings. With these changes, Spotify is altering the way free users can access their music.

Free Spotify users in India will no longer have the ability to play songs in a specific order, repeat songs, or instantly return to their previous tracks. These features will now be exclusively available to Premium subscribers.

However, the company assures that free users can still enjoy listening to their favorite artists, albums, and playlists, and receive song recommendations, Mint reported.

Spotify had initially provided these features for free users in India since its launch in 2019. The decision to restrict these capabilities is a result of the maturing Indian market, as reported by TechCrunch. This move aligns the Indian free-tier Spotify experience more closely with the service offered in Brazil.

According to a Redseer study published in April 2023, Spotify holds the top position as the most-streamed music platform in India, boasting a market share of around 26%.

Spotify’s premium subscription options in India start at ₹7 per day, offering ad-free music on mobile devices and the ability to download up to 30 songs on a single mobile device. Additionally, the ₹119 per month subscription provides the capacity to download up to 10,000 songs on up to 5 devices.

These changes signal Spotify’s ongoing commitment to offering a range of music streaming options to cater to the diverse preferences and needs of its user base in India, with an emphasis on the premium experience.