Unlimited, apparently a thing of the past.

[fisque]

Today after the press conference the website got updated and Unlimited is now no longer an option for new users. You have Free and you have Premium as your choices for a subscription. I myself am currently a Spotify Unlimited user since I use Spotify on my computer exclusively.

First things first, what will happen to my current Unlimited subscription?

Secondly, out of curiosity I tried to log on to Spotify on my cell phone (Android) and try the new Shuffle feature available for Free users. What happened was that, even if I could log in, I couldn't actually play anything. The "Shuffle Play" button wasn't even present and when I tried to press Radio I was confronted with a message saying I need to upgrade to Premium to use that feature.

Shouldn't Unlimited users at least be able to use the mobile version in the same manner as Free users?

I'm confused...

[Peter__]

Trying to find out some more information about this. 

In the mean time, the best people to get in touch with are the customer services team directly using the online contact form and they will be able to answer any questions you have.

If you get an automated email reply back directing you to the community or help pages, you need to reply directly to that email (even if its from no-reply) and one of the customer services agents will get back to you as soon as possible.

Alternatively, if you prefer support via Twitter, please tweet @SpotifyCares.

[Kakai]

If they remove Unlimited I won't pay anymore. 3,5€ was a decent price, 7€ is too much. I won't even use the tablet streaming that much.

Please don't remove that option.

[tofmin]

Same here, same here!

[ukmikep]

I am also an Unlimited user and agree on the plan confusion.  I am assuming that current unlimited users will keep their plan which provides unlimited ad free playback of anything in the library on a PC/Mac.  I have been able to create playlists of anything in the library on my pc and can now stream it on my iPad.  The mobile still only allows radio shuffle, so I can create a station based on an artist or genre.  One area I need to explore is the ability to create a station and only play that artist's songs, this is a new feature that I like.

[silbaco]

So the service I had actually considered signing up for has been eliminated? Figures.

Kind of bad timing though. Considering it is the holiday season and gift cards are being sold for both services and their website even says "Our Gift Cards are currently available in three handy amounts - $10, $30 and $60. The cards can be redeemed for a Spotify Premium or Unlimited subscription." I'd be pretty angry if I bought a giftcard for someone for a service that no longer exists.

[Peter__]

Spotify would honor the gift cards I would imagine.

They did the same thing of honoring download gift cards after the download store was discontinued. 

[djknucklez1]

I agree.

I have a premium subscription but quite honeslty I can live with the ads in between songs.  I'm just not sold that I should continue paying 9.99 for being able to listen offline only.

Sadly I will have to cancel my  subscription.  There are not enough perks anymore for me to continue paying 9.99 with this new announcement.

[dearlaserworks]

As a free user, if I go to my account, it still allows me to upgrade to Unlimited or Premium. That may not last, but it's still there currently as an option.

[domenicaccio]

...am I the only one who seemed to understand that "Free" will now allow ONLY shuffle mode?

Free users will only have an option for picking one artist or band, and listen to random songs (which also presumably mean, no more playlists). OTOH the 10-hours limit will be removed. The result is that Spotify Free will essentially work like a radio station, except that you choose what band to keep listening to.

That means that only Premium will allow to pick songs one by one to listen to, and make your own playlists.

[romankovic]

I am *still* holding a "unlimited" subscription. But, actually, I am kinda lost on what is going to happen.

AFAIK, you can pay:

- 0 €: unlimited play on pc/tablet, shuffle play on smartphone, with ads

- 9.99 €: unlimited play on pc/tablet, shuffle play on smartphone, without ads

So what about the 4.99 € I'll pay? no ads? smartphone normal playing? Will it worth to pay for it?

[domenicaccio]

My guess is that "Unlimited" subscriptions will be valid until a certain deadline e.g. end of December, and then from January they'll automatically upgrade (and charge) you as Premium, unless you opt out and go back to Free.

[romankovic]

Makes sense, but I hope something good will be offered to unlimited subscribers.

[daniel165]

Unlimited will give you no ads for PC/Tablet. Premium will give you high quality audio, full smartphone options without being forced to shuffle and offline mode 🙂

[tofmin]

No way! No f way! If I can't stay with Unlimited, then bye bye Spotify... I don't need Spotify on phone / tablet. I use only on PC and don't want ads. 

[Burkazoid]

I tweeted both @Spotify and @SpotifyCare with questions about this as well but heard nothing in return. It seems they're being deliberately cagey about this. I'm hoping that those of us on unlimited will be able to continue to use it.

[Matze]

---

Kakai schrieb:

If they remove Unlimited I won't pay anymore. 3,5€ was a decent price, 7€ is too much. I won't even use the tablet streaming that much.

Please don't remove that option.

---

3,5€ and 7€? Isn't it 5€ and 10€ everywehere in Europe? 

@domenicaccio

Even if Unimted is discontinued I'm pretty sure that they won't (and aren't allowed to) automatically upgrade current users to Premium. So if you have Unlimited at the moment you should be fine.

@Burkazoid

Someone else got an answer: https://twitter.com/SpotifyCares/status/411088475840978944

[Peter__]

They can indeed change the price of a subscription as long as they inform you of the change as outlined in the terms and conditions:

Spotify may change the price for the Paid Subscriptions from time to time, and will communicate any price changes to you. Price changes for Paid Subscriptions will take effect at the start of the next subscription period following the date of the price change. By continuing to use the Spotify Service after the price change takes effect, you accept the new price.

[Burkazoid]

---

@Matze wrote:

 

@Burkazoid

Someone else got an answer: https://twitter.com/SpotifyCares/status/411088475840978944

---

Oh! Heh, that is my account. I somehow missed their response. Thanks for spotting that!

[Rorey · Accepted solution]

@tofmin @ukmikep @silbaco @Kakai @fisque @djknucklez1 @dearlaserworks  @romankovic @daniel165

 @Matze 

Good questions!

Don't worry. If you have Unlimited you should still be able to keep your subscription without any problems. Should you unsubscribe for any reason, you can sign up for Unlimited from your subscription page on our website. 

The reason we do not offer Unlimited in our new markets is because we’re seeing a huge global mobile shift, resulting in less people paying to use Spotify solely on their desktop and making Spotify Premium more popular than ever. On top of that, Spotify is now free across all platforms, so it made sense to simplify our product offering. 

To be clear, we have no plans to automatically upgrade any of our Unlimited users to Premium. 

In the spirit of keeping this thread on topic, please direct your questions about Spotify for free on your mobile to us in this thread. We'll happily answer you in a jiffy over there.

http://community.spotify.com/t5/Social-Off-Topic/Spotify-will-introduce-FREE-mobile-streaming-soon/m...