Why do some accounts have time limits?

[Heddle]

Two of my friends and I use the free version of spotify. Except my account has a 10 hour limit per month or something, and can only listen to each song 5 times whereas my friends don't have the time or play limit. None of us pay, or have paid, and I'm just wondering why my account is limited when their accounts aren't?

[Stupify]

Spotify gives unlimited free listening for the first six months of use. Then they will get time limited. Your friends haven't been on Spotify for six months yet.

Also, all users from United States have unlimited free listening regardless of the time they've been on Spotify.

[musickic_33]

I am in the US and have had spotify for 2 days yet my phone says I have a 24 hour trial listoning left not unlimited.What went wron

[meahtenoha]

Hi musickic_33 - According to our records you've just signed up for our 48 hour Premium trial. We don't have any payment details linked to your account. 

Is it possible you've made two accounts on our system? You should have received an email receipt if you upgraded successfully. 

[kimmetjehier]

I have the same problem, me and a friend both start to use spotify at the same time (last month), but she doesnt have a time-limit and I do :(..

[meahtenoha]

Hi kimmetjehier - According to our records you originally opened your account with us in December.

As these limits come into effect after six months, you would've started receiving time caps in June. Hopefully this helps clarify things a bit. Let us know if you have any other questions. 

[1000tobbe]

Owned 

[Logiee]

Can you tell me why i get blocked after i have used my time limit then once it changed for next munth that i dont get to listen to 10 hrs worth of songs and it jumps straight to 50 mins ?

Happens every time i try listen to music. There is no way i listen to ten hours of music in like days after it lets me listen again.

[meahtenoha]

Hi Logiee - Welcome to the Community. 

So free accounts are timed on a weekly basis. The reason you're not able to listen to 10 hours at once is because it's divided into 2.5 hours per week. Once this week has finished for your account, you'll be able to listen to another 2.5 hours. 

You can find more info right here: https://www.spotify.com/help/faq/unlimited/how-much-music-can-i-play-with-spotify-open/

[lukebaker]

how comes i had a time limit then it dissapered and now only today come back ? will you just get rid of it spotify is becoming a pain now

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@meahtenoha wrote:

Hi Logiee - Welcome to the Community. 

So free accounts are timed on a weekly basis. The reason you're not able to listen to 10 hours at once is because it's divided into 2.5 hours per week. Once this week has finished for your account, you'll be able to listen to another 2.5 hours. 

You can find more info right here: https://www.spotify.com/help/faq/unlimited/how-much-music-can-i-play-with-spotify-open/

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[David]

Luke - It's probably due to your additional hours being used up. You should get an additional set every week. The timer will only appear when you have 1 hour left. 

[Feeley]

I had time limit start for me yesterday saying "you have listend to 10 hours of music this month" or something like that, saw here that USA dont have time limit so I changed what country im from in my spotify account profile from sweden to usa, and now I can listen to music agian. Push "help" then "your account" then change country to usa (push the flag in bottom right and change to USA flag). (If you are a spotify admin reading this I moved to USA yesterday).

[David]

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@Feeley wrote:

I had time limit start for me yesterday saying "you have listend to 10 hours of music this month" or something like that, saw here that USA dont have time limit so I changed what country im from in my spotify account profile from sweden to usa, and now I can listen to music agian. Push "help" then "your account" then change country to usa (push the flag in bottom right and change to USA flag). (If you are a spotify admin reading this I moved to USA yesterday).

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The option you have found there changes which version and which language you are viewing the website in. This does not change the country your account is in.

[MusicMuse]

Slightly concerned here.

I was about to subscribe, but if there are all sorts of limits being applied then this service is not what it says on the tin. I had no idea and I do not like being misled. It breaches my trust of the service.

Now I do not know what to think because it is not published and made clear before time to buy.

I see it says 2.5 hours per week. That would be completely inadequate for my requirements.

I also gather it may not be Spotify insisting on the limits, but the Music companies.

Regrettably then "free" is not "free" as it appears to carry coercion, which increases after six months.

I was thinking of this for our family home and all our devices and was happy to pay.

Now? Not so much.

Muse.

[RIcoLoco]

I was thinking about to sign up for Premium, but I think when spotify has more Ideas like this I will go to simfy. Do I have a reason to trust spotify that there wont be changes something like that when I would have a premium account? 

[meahtenoha]

Hi RlcoLoco - There aren't any time limits on Unlimited or Premium accounts. 

The 2.5 hours per week comes into affect on just free accounts only 6 months after they are opened. 

[Horseshoe2231]

I just got my free account two days ago and it said that I have 48 hours left of my trial. But then I got premium spotify and it still said that I have a limited amount of time left in my trial even though I started paying for it.

[Peter__]

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@Horseshoe2231 wrote:
I just got my free account two days ago and it said that I have 48 hours left of my trial. But then I got premium spotify and it still said that I have a limited amount of time left in my trial even though I started paying for it.

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Don't worry, the trial will take presendence over your subscription until it expires. Your paid subscription should start automatically after the trial expires, although a quick log out/in might be needed. 

Peter

[Alice_Walker]

I've had Spotify for about 3 years now and suddenly got told I had no time left with no warning or count down of time. Two days later I could listen to everything again with no time bar or anything. Whats going on Spotify?

[Peter__]

Hey! Welcome to the community 🙂

Spotify free accounts which have been registered for 6 months or more are subject to extra restrictions:
- Maximum streaming time of 10 hours per month (allocated as a maximum of 2.5 hours per week, meaning you never need to wait more than 7 days to listen again!).
- In France, a maximum track play count of 5 plays.

You can read more about free account restrictions in your country here. You can see how much time you have remaining when you have less than 60 minutes of playtime left in the top right of the desktop client.
These restrictions only apply to free subscribers, so an upgrade to Spotify unlimited or premium will remove these.

Peter