Tushar Mehta / Android Authority
After years on Spotify’s Premium plan, I switched over to the music streaming service’s free version in an effort to save money. I’ve seen how intrusive ads have become across different platforms, including websites, podcasts, and YouTube videos; so I braced myself for an onslaught of annoying breaks while streaming music.
But my experience differed greatly from what I expected. The ads turned out to be minor inconveniences, with the lack of control over my music playback being much more annoying than expected.
What is the most annoying limitation of Spotify's free plan? 51 votes Forced shuffle. 61 % The ads. 14 % Limited skipping. 22 % Lower audio quality. 4 % Something else (Let us know in the comments). 0 %
How does Spotify’s free plan differ from Premium?
Megan Ellis / Android Authority
Spotify’s free plan comes with certain limitations that you don’t experience when subscribed to the service. The most well-known difference is that the free plan includes ads during playback.
But there are a number of additional limitations with Spotify free, including: You can’t download songs for offline listening.
You can’t tweak audio quality settings.
Playback is automatically shuffled on the mobile app.
You have limited skips for songs. Previously, you also couldn’t pick a specific song for playback. But Spotify has updated the app to allow users to select a specific song from a playlist or search. This is a huge improvement, because I honestly can’t imagine using a music streaming service where I can’t pick the song I want to play.
Forced shuffle turned out to be the most annoying part of Spotify free
Megan Ellis / Android Authority
Spotify’s free plan plays an ad roughly every 10 to 15 minutes on the app. However, they were not nearly as annoying as I expected them to be. There is an important note to take into account, though. I live in a region that isn’t a priority for many advertisers.
As a result, all of the ads I encountered on Spotify were for Spotify Premium. These ads were also only a few seconds long, so I didn’t really feel like they were as intrusive as the ads I hear on the radio or see on YouTube.
Rather, the forced shuffle was actually the biggest annoyance I experienced while using the app. I usually like to listen to songs in order, especially when it comes to concept albums. I can’t imagine listening to Protest the Hero’s Kezia on shuffle, for example, because the songs tell a story.
I only use shuffle on longer playlists that I want to have a bit of variety on. So being forced to listen to songs on shuffle for specially curated playlists was frustrating. My liked songs are in a particular order because I want to listen to them that way. This is also likely related to my autism, as listening to repetitive music can be a form of stimming.
Ads were less frequent than I expected, so I found the forced shuffling of songs more annoying.
When I made the switch over to the free plan, the change to the order I played my music was disruptive. I also found that I used the app less and less. I usually listen to Spotify daily when I take a shower, but I stopped bothering with it eventually.
However, I only experienced this forced shuffling on the mobile app. Listening to Spotify on the web player and on my Google TV box allows me to play songs in order. This lets me listen to music the way I prefer while working (on my computer) and while doing chores (on my TV).
The biggest drawback in these instances is that the platform would switch to other songs not in my playlists long before the playlist was exhausted. For example, the playlist I use while working is over three hours long. But after about an hour, it switches out to recommendations rather than songs included in the playlist.
There was one positive when it came to this forced shuffle, though. It allowed me to revisit tracks on my liked songs playlist that I hadn’t heard in a while. However, this doesn’t create the same satisfaction I feel when listening to songs in a particular order, since my most recent additions are the ones I enjoy the most.
I still prefer Spotify’s free plan to YouTube Music’s
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
When I realized I needed to transition away from paid music streaming, at least for now, I weighed up the differences between Spotify and YouTube Music. I even tried out YouTube Music for a few days to see if it would be less disruptive. After all, YouTube Music is one of the most widely recommended apps to use instead of Spotify.
YouTube Music’s free plan lets you play songs in the order you want, which is a major bonus. And like Spotify’s free plan, it doesn’t allow you to download songs for offline playback.
However, the free plan’s other limitations were what made me stick with Spotify. With the free version of YouTube Music, you don’t get background play on the mobile app. This means that every time you want to respond to a text message or switch to another app, playback stops. You can’t even keep the app open and turn your screen off — as soon as your lock screen appears, playback stops. The screen also doesn’t time out while playing; it stays on throughout. This is a nightmare if you want to conserve battery.
As much as I disliked forced shuffle on Spotify, YouTube Music's free plan limitations were much worse.
YouTube Music’s ads are also a lot more intrusive. Before you can even start the song you’ve selected, you have to watch an ad. I also found that the ads were a lot more frequent. Rather than Spotify’s one ad every 10-15 minutes, I encountered one before every single song on YouTube Music. I shouldn’t have been surprised, since ads on YouTube’s video platform have become more excessive over the years and have played a significant role in souring my experience with the company. But even I didn’t expect the ads to be this intrusive with Music.
The app also doesn’t let you switch to audio-only playback, meaning it will use up a lot more data when you’re using your mobile internet connection. You can keep your YouTube and YouTube Music accounts separate, but I didn’t want to jump through these hoops for a service that was ultimately too annoying to use, and that I was only temporarily testing.
As disruptive as I’ve found forced shuffle on Spotify, YouTube Music’s frequent ads and lack of background playback were even more unpleasant. I do think, however, that Spotify’s update that allows free users to at least select their first song has gone a long way to improving the experience.
I will eventually switch back to a paid plan when I can afford it again, since I want to support the artists that I care about. In the meantime, however, the free plan has just enough functionality to keep me listening to music rather than ditching the service entirely.
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