How to pay for another year of premium with Google Play?

[8barbies]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Samsung Galaxy S10

Operating System

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

I read you can now pay for premium with Google Play.  I usually buy a $100 gift card and pay for a year.  I have $200 credit on Google Play and i want to pay for another year because it's about to expire.  Please help, I can't for the life of me figure it out.  When i go to manage accounts on Spotify the only payment options are credit cards or Pay Pal, neither of which i have.  I thought i read that there should be a Google Play icon/option to check but i don't see it.  sorry so long, thanks heaps in advance:)))

[Prague]

Tail-wagging hello to you 8barbies!

When:
Over the coming months, Spotify will work with Google’s product and engineering teams to build this new experience, and will roll out in countries around the world. Working together, the companies will test and learn, jointly exploring product innovations across the Android platform. We anticipate launching the first iteration of User Choice Billing later this year.

How:

Users who’ve downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store will be presented with a choice to pay with either Spotify’s payment system or with Google Play Billing. For the first time, these two options will live side by side in the app. This will give everyone the freedom to subscribe and make purchases using the payment option of their choice directly in the Spotify app. Spotify will continue to freely communicate with users about our Premium subscription service, promote discounts and promotions, and give listeners on our Free tier the ability to convert to Premium directly in the app.

I'll be barking up the wrong tree without updates,

-Prague the Dog

[8barbies]

hey Prague, dude... thank you so much for replying so quickly, much love:)))  you know, your words seem to be exactly what i've basically been seeing in my research but i get confused.  maybe you could qualify for me, as of now is it only if a person is downloading ap from Google Play for the 'FIRST' time that one is presented with these options?  in other words, since i've been with Spotify for a few years is there no way to make this happen?  i really have tried my best, i tried every menu i could in the Google Play app & i tried every menu i could in the Spotify ap.  it sounds like it must be done first on the Google Play side to then allow the Spotify ap to then give you the Goople Play 'pay' option.  man, i'm sorry if this question is confusing, i just need to make this happen really quickly because if i can't use Google Play i will have to track down the appropriate Spotify gift card in the next week or i will lose all my stuff when i go to Alaska.... which is getting more difficult hahahaha.  sorry for being so wordy & thanks in advance.

[Lyubka]

Hey @8barbies,

Thank you for reaching out here in the Community.

We'd suggest reaching out to Google support since they're the one in charge of billing and payments. Their customer support team will happily help out with the request as we don't have access to the necessary tools to look further into this.

You can also take a look at this article to see how to add, remove, or edit your Google Play payment method. 

Lastly, as Prague mentioned Spotify and Google are testing this new Google Play billing and it doesn't necessarily mean that Google Play Points/Credit can be used to pay for a Premium subscription since the feature is still new and it's still being rolled out. Folks at Google should be able to give you more information, however, it's worth mentioning that this will be expanded throughout the rest of 2023. That's why we always recommend that you keep your app continuously updated to get access to new features as soon as they become available for you 🙂

Hope this helps. If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.

[Prague]

Puppy love feelings chatting with you again 8barbies!
I tried to go through Google's support to get more info but they've got it set up so pretty much every question routes you to the community forum, not a single "contact us" link either.

I'd check out the wonderful article Lyubka shared, it shows how to set play balance up as a payment method. I do not have any google devices therefore unfortunately I cannot test out if the feature is available for Spotify purchases yet.

Spotify has an exceptional track record of putting out new features within a week, to a month after announcing it. With you being headed for Alaska next week, I'm not sure it would be worth gambling on them going live with that payment option in time. I did notice Google features a "Request your Google Play refund" option.

Premium cards can be purchased in most stores and even some gas stations. They are difficult to input correctly and are prone to just being unreliable. Premium can also be acquired digitally with a PayPal acount or Visa, Amex, Mastercard (US).

Give me a howl if you still can't find a resolution to your issue!
I'll be doggone if I don't hear from you,

-Prague the Dog

[8barbies]

wow Praquey, i gotta tell you - my respect for Spotify has gone up through the roof! i honestly can't believe how much you & Lyubka have been trying to help me. you're so 100 on not risking before i leave for Alaska. the very evening that i posted - both of you replied & i had the funny feeling that Google Play wasn't yet ready for prime time. also, i ended up updating Spotify app on my phone which i hadn't done in years because it seems every time i update anything (including Windows:) - my settings change or i lose something. sure enough, when i updated Spotify i somehow lost all my downloads. i'm sure it was my fault, i don't save them in playlists etc. cuz i'm kinda dim:) it's mainly podcasts for when i'm on the road outa service (which is all the time). i have 500gigs of storage on my phone so i download dozens & dozens of episodes of 5 different podcasts & never delete them hahahaha. anyway... i just got done re-downloading a bunch of stuff for Alaska & was worried that GP wouldn't work so I ordered another Spotify Premium physical card from Amazon (which is how i've been doing it for years) & i'll go this tried & true route this time & maybe figure it out next year. i'm kind of worried to try it now and i feel kind of guilty cuz i wanna mark it as a solution for you guys. i'm replying this through email so i don't even know if you'll get it so maybe i'll go back to the community forum and kind of explain this (not so wordy) so other people won't think i've been completely ignoring the help. wow - sorry for the ramble Prague:) -barbie

ps - hey let me know if you actually get this through email - oh, and i have, HAve to remember to go into offline mode before i get outa service this time, makes it so much easier! you rock Prague.

[Prague]

Howldy Barbie,

No worries at all! I received your reply through email, so no need to worry about that. I'm glad to hear that both Lyubka and I could assist you, and it's great to see your appreciation for Spotify's dedication to new features.

Updating the Spotify app can sometimes lead to changes in settings or even the loss of downloaded content. It's understandable that you prefer not to update frequently to avoid such issues. Re-downloading your podcasts for your upcoming trip to Alaska sounds like a good plan, and using the trusted route of ordering a physical Spotify Premium card from Amazon seems like a reliable option for now. You can always explore the Google Play payment option next year when you have more time to figure it out.

No need to feel guilty about marking it as a solution just yet. It's always best to go with what works for you at the moment, and if the physical card is your reliable method, it's totally fine to stick with it.

Don't forget to go into offline mode before heading out of service this time dood!

Thank you for the kind words!

Take care and have a pawesome trip to Alaska 8B,

-Prague the Dog

[8barbies]

❤️💘💕  hey Prague, can you remind me of something really quick?  if i remember right, if i don't find service after 30 days of offline - do i lose my downloads?  i'll be in Alaska for 2 months but i may be able to find somewhere to get service for a day during the trip.  do i need to make sure that say 29ish days DON'T go by without connecting or... as long as i'm in Offline mode the whole 2 months then when i do get back into service i'll still have my downloads?  does this question make sense?  i don't know if i'm asking it right:) -barbie

[Prague]

Yes, if Spotify hasn't changed the terms and conditions recently; then you still need to connect your device to the internet and go online at least once every 30 days. This is to allow Spotify to verify your subscription status and confirm that you are still an active premium user.

If you go offline for more than 30 consecutive days without connecting to the internet, your Spotify downloads will expire and become inaccessible. Therefore, if you will be in Alaska for 2 months and want to ensure that your downloaded content remains available, it's recommended to find a way to connect to the internet at least once within that 30-day period to refresh the validity of your downloads.

Open ears, waggy tailed.

-Prague the dog

[8barbies]

👍😍

[8barbies]

Hey Prague, i don't know if i'm doing this right thru email but my laptop udated & i'm struggling finding my original post. I don't know if you remember me but you helped me with trying to get Google Play to buy another year of Premium before i leave for Alaska. My $99 Spotify Premium physical gift card just showed up. can you walk me thru the steps to apply it again? i don't know why i'm struggling. I apologize to the community if this is in the wrong thread. thanks in advance:) -barbie

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[Prague]

Hey Barbie! 

To redeem a gift card:

1. Log in to spotify.com/redeem
2. Enter the code from the back of the gift card.
   Tip: To reveal the code, we'd recommend using a coin or card to gently scratch off the PIN cover.
3. Click Redeem.

And that should do it! Here is Spotify’s official procedure page for gift cards too, https://support.spotify.com/us/article/gift-cards/

If you still can’t get it through give me a howl and I’ll gladly help ya out. 
Miss ya dood, hope the past weeks been chill!

I’ll be chasing my tail in circles without any updates on your situation,

-Prague the Dog

[8barbies]

Praguey, I'll say it again - I can't believe the level of excellence of Spotify's customer service.  I'm truly blown away, even little things like you saying you remember me hahahaha... I'm sure you had to read old posts to figure it out cuz you're so busy but - it's those little touches that so pumps a customer up, they'd better give you a huge raise:)))  Ok, I finally got the physical gift card to work.  It sure seems to me that in the past I could do it from the Spotify App on my phone under tools/gear thingy, but i couldn't find a 'Redeem' option, so when you recommended going to that link instead I was finally able to work it out.  I had problems with identifying whether a certain character was a zero or the letter (O) but finally got it accepted.  thank god there isn't a 3 time error limit hahahaha.  I did notice something tho that might be affecting me not originally getting the Google Play pay prompt that I've seen in other peoples screen shots on internet... when on laptop & going to the link you sent me it asked me if I wanted to sign in with Google credentials - since I can't remember my exact user name & pass for spotify itself, I chose to enter with Google credentials since I can remember that one.  Well, it came back & said that I'm not linked up with Google sign in credentials so... apparently when i originally signed up years ago I didn't 'attach/link' them for lack of better word, so maybe that's why I never got the Google Play prompt.  Just spitballing but that may have been the reason.  I was in a rush redeeming this gift card so when I get back from Alaska I'll try a deeper dive to try & link Google Play to my Spotify account & 'pretend' I'm trying to pay thru GP (even tho I have another year now) and try to solve this for other people.  I understand it probably still won't work for everyone as Spotify is still rolling this out but it would be awesome for other people that see the original heading of my post for me to do actual research and help everyone else out.  sorry for being so wordy & thanks heaps again for responding so quickly & affectionately.  love, LOVe you guys:))) -barbie

[Prague]

Kind individuals such as yourself are never forgotten! Just got home and I heard my phone bing bong, when I saw that it was the user 8barbies posting in the community I rushed online 😄 

Haaaaah I wish, I am just another community forum chatter such as yourself. Truly thank you for the compliment though.

I have never used a gift card before but if I did that's where I would of looked too. Oh my dog I normally fail those scratch off's all the time, I agree thank you Spotify for allowing a multitude of tries. 

Snap okay, I have mine linked to a really old and actually deleted Facebook account. I should probably link my email and or number to Spotify too just in case it gets lost. Were you able to recover your account and or playlists okay? Sorry if that's opening up a can of worms you're not trying to deal with at the moment lol

If you find any more info on GP that would help others posting it here, I'll also set up some search and news alerts for it; if updates arise i'll post them in here as well.

Enjoy Alaska fam, I think the salmon are starting to migrate right now. Probably a simply beautiful time to be there!
Your loyal community companion,

-Prague the Dog

[8barbies]

wow, I figured you worked for Spotify! what an amazing community. I think we're on to something here about not having the 2 accounts linked. It totally makes sense now why I didn't see a GP option in Spotify App cuz GP wasn't linked so in hindsight, of course that option in not going to be available. You see, it was so long ago that I signed up for Spotify that I was just winging it, I downloaded app from GP & prob ignored any prompt to link them cuz I never know what I'm doing when it comes to stuff like that. Also, I was trying to pay with GP thru the app not going online, so maybe (maybe) that makes a difference as well. it's probably not hard to link the 2, if I have time before I leave I'll try & do some research but... for anybody reading (congratulations wading thru all my ramblings), I would first try and make sure your accounts are linked and then, if you are trying to apply it thru the settings on App itself (boy, those settings need a little work to be clearer) and it doesn't work, then maybe try to do it online thru the physical spotify website instead. I'm probable confusing everybody because I'll bet it still doesn't work in every country, every location yet anyway but - that would be the first step I would try everybody, make sure Google Play is linked to your Spotify account, I guess DUH but, it was so long ago that i set up Spotify that I can't remember what the **bleep** I did:))) thanx again Prague - barbie

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