Premium and downloading as mp3

[robindegen]

Sorry if this has been asked before but i found the Q&A page (http://www.spotify.com/uk/about/downloads/) a bit ambiguous.

I quote:

For Premium, there’s Offline
Of course, if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you won’t need to buy any tracks. You can just sync all your playlists and listen Offline.

It says there is offline mode, after it speaks about buying credit for downloading mp3's. But it doesn't specificly state you can download them as premium. It merely mentions offline mode, which isn't the same as far as i know.

So I have a few questions about a premium account:

- Can i download songs i like as mp3 and play them anywhere? (Without the actual spotify software, for example in my car)

- Is there DRM or anything like that? Will they work on my car radio (usb stick)?

- What's the limit on this downloading?

Thank you

Robin

[jvanderb · Accepted solution]

I think I can answer all but one question you have.  You are correct in that Spotify Premium and downloading are not the same thing.  The offline playlists are not related to downloading either.  Offline playlists are essentially a cached stream, and not individually stored songs.  When the songs are cached, they are encrypted, so it would not be possible to remove them, and do with them as you please.  You are restricted to playing those songs through the Spotify client.  So, in that context, the songs are basically DRM protected.  For offline playlists, there is a limit of 3,333 total songs that can be available offline at any given time.

Downloading on the other hand is something that is enabled in certain areas.  Downloading is not available where I am, so my knowledge on that subject is a bit more limited.  I have heard that the downloaded music files are MP3s.  If this is the case, then there would be no DRM restrictions on the content as the MP3 format is not compatible with DRM.  With the downloading service, you keep the songs you pay for, regardless of whether or not your Spotify account is open.  You can do with them what you wish.  I am not aware of any predefined limit with this sort of downloading, but you do pay either for individual songs, or I believe you can buy a bundle of songs at a discount.

Hopefully I've given you the information you need.  If you need any additional clarification, please feel free to let me know!

[robindegen]

Thank you for your answer. It pretty much confirmed what i thought already. BAsicly with premium i still cant play music on my car radio without seperately buying the songs, defeating the whole purpose for me to go premium at all.

[renegadeimp]

Blame the record companies. Not spotify. 

[robindegen]

yep i know. They like to continue living under their rocks. Their loss really....

[renegadeimp]

Very very true. It wouldnt even be so bad if they included some form of DRM that locks the Mp3 to a certain device.

[robindegen]

Yep, I'd be ok with that, if every mp3 device out there actually supported that. Maybe that should've been something that is part of the mp3 format itself... but i guess they didn't really think about that when they invented the format. My next car radio will probably have bluetooth though, then i can just play my offline music on my phone through that.

[jvanderb]

Well, you should be able to listen to it in your car still assuming you have a data connection on your phone.  If you are in an area where you don't have service, or if you are using an iPod, you can listen to Spotify but only playlists you've created and made available offline. 

[robindegen]

Perhaps, but that's going to take a massive amount of bandwidth, streaming all that. And like i said, i'd need a new car radio first, i cant just hook up my phone to my car radio. It's a fancy dvd video and mp3 player, but i can't hook my phone to it.

[jvanderb]

Ah...that might be an issue.  Although, you can get an FM transmitter so you can play music on your stereo.  The bandwidth issue could be somewhat mitigated through the use of offline playlists.  It's not an ideal solution perhaps, but it would get the job done.

[leorio]

You can play "320kb mp3s" in your car with premium account here is how (have not tried it yet):

1- your car system has to have an Aux mode i.e.. A jack female opening in it to receive a 3.5 jack cable from mobile device. Or a male cable coming out of your car system to plug into the headphone/aux jack on your mobile device.

(i remember when i bought a cd player in the past it comes with a jack-to-jack cable i.e. male-male to connect between the cd players aux jack to the stereo system aux jack. you can buy that cable separately if needed) 

2- use your mobile device at home or place with internet connection to install spotify on it and make playlists offline on that device then connect to aux jack/cable to play in car.

but still when I was thinking of going premium there is a page that said you will get high quality mp3 files with no drm or protections downloaded into your "My music" folder.

so I paid 9.99 to get premium , made a playlist and chose offline mode using the button and the file-offline mode. But still no mp3.

either I don't know how to do it or...

[MattSuda]

I think there is some confusion here.

The download service Spotify offers is available in a few countries. 

For this service, you buy songs like you would on iTunes for an MP3 file.

The premium subscription is to stream music at 320kbps high quality and you can download for offline use. (NO MP3)

MP3s mean you own the music file, but you still don't own the copyrights, it's just a personal file.

Spotify premium you can listen to millions of songs, but you don't have the personal file.

With premium you are streaming that file or downloading it for offline use.

This page:

http://www.spotify.com/uk/about/downloads/

"MP3s purchased from Spotify are DRM-free and of high-quality at 320kbps*. Burn them to an audio CD, sync them to an MP3 player or make a backup – they are yours to enjoy as you please."

But... look at the bottom:

"For premium, there's offline. Of course, if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you won’t need to buy any tracks. You can just sync all your playlists and listen offline.

Hopefully this clears things up. 

[leorio]

i am in usa using a usa credit card. I did not see an option to "buy mp3".

where is it mentioned or any extra info about "available in a few countries" ? I did not see that when i was thinking of upgrading. (https://www.spotify.com/uk/about/downloads/)

beacuse of that "download" page i was under the impression that I will be able to download mp3s to my "my music" folder to burn on cd just like emusic.com

[Goodman]

From a quick Google search. Gotta love workarounds.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1865467,00.asp

[leorio]

i tried the fm way before but it has a lot of interference, only the direct cable connections are worth it.

also, it was said here the offline mode gives an encrypted file on your device containing the music. how can i confirm that the quality of that music is 320kb?

[leorio]

Wait.... The 320kb was mentioned only for the "purchased mp3s" not mentioned for the offline mode.

So does that mean that offline mode is not higher quality than free subscription streams?

wait here it is: "Enhanced sound quality" but doesn't say what kb.

http://www.spotify.com/uk/get-spotify/overview/

[MattSuda]

For premium, the sound quality is also 320kbps.

To make sure you always get the best quality you should go into preferences on the desktop and make sure the "high quality streaming" box is checked. And on your mobile make sure you go into the settings and switch the quality to the highest to get 320kbps.

If you go here:

https://www.spotify.com/us/get-spotify/premium/

It says 320kbps

In the USA there is buy MP3 option since it is limited to the UK and maybe one or two other countries. 

[Hatty]

So how do you download? It still hasn't been answered? I have a sound machine with a mic and its funny. I wanna have songs I like in the background but I have to transfer the songs over to the contraption.   Can I get the mp3's? if I am premium? how if so?

---

@MattSuda wrote:

For premium, the sound quality is also 320kbps.

To make sure you always get the best quality you should go into preferences on the desktop and make sure the "high quality streaming" box is checked. And on your mobile make sure you go into the settings and switch the quality to the highest to get 320kbps.

If you go here:

https://www.spotify.com/us/get-spotify/premium/

It says 320kbps

In the USA there is buy MP3 option since it is limited to the UK and maybe one or two other countries. 

---

[Peter__]

---

@Hatty wrote:

So how do you download? It still hasn't been answered? I have a sound machine with a mic and its funny. I wanna have songs I like in the background but I have to transfer the songs over to the contraption.   Can I get the mp3's? if I am premium? how if so?

---

@MattSuda wrote:

For premium, the sound quality is also 320kbps.

To make sure you always get the best quality you should go into preferences on the desktop and make sure the "high quality streaming" box is checked. And on your mobile make sure you go into the settings and switch the quality to the highest to get 320kbps.

If you go here:

https://www.spotify.com/us/get-spotify/premium/

It says 320kbps

In the USA there is buy MP3 option since it is limited to the UK and maybe one or two other countries. 

---

---

No, Spotify is a streaming service, it does not give you access to mp3 downloads no matter what subscription plan you are on. If you want to download tracks as mp3's for usage outside of Spotify, then you need to purchase and download those tracks from another source. 

Peter

[Cronugs]

get a cheap FM transmitter for your phone. Then you can make lists available offline on your phone and play them through your car stereo. If you have interference problems, get a more expensive FM transmitter that allows you to select your FM freq, and has higher power FM signal. I have no problems with mine even in cities with a million other signals around.

If you want Mp3's, there are a million other places to get any album you might like. just google it.