Family members showing audiobooks locked, even under premium family account

[cliffordboobyer]

Plan

Premium Family

Device

(iPad)

Operating System

(iOS latest)

My Question or Issue

Hi, when i browse my app under my account, I can see audiobooks which are able to be played. However when I use my kids premium family login under their iPad, same audiobooks shown as locked. What gives? Some kind of early restrictions or teething issues as it seems audiobooks for streaming is quite new.

[Mumismad]

Timeframe please - this is crazy but more importantly, inequitable.  How about sorting these issues before release and creating the hype that leads everyone to expect the same service across a premium plan 

[xume]

When are the free 15 hours going to be released to the rest of the premium members? This is unfair spotify, and you know it.

[NeilEnnis]

Only one family member has true "Premium" access.  The rest of the family has "Premium Light"  That's not really in spirit of a family plan, and really nasty considering you just put your prices up.

[Blanaybr]

Like others I don’t agree that one person in the family plan/duo (plan manager) should only have access to audiobooks as it is very unfair, it would be good if Spotify could consider giving plan managers the ability to spilt hours amongst those that they share there account with, however the right amount of hours to make it worthwhile should be allocated to family / duo accounts in order to make this a fair deal especially given the cost we pay! 

[talebisia]

I have to agree with every single one of these posts. Spotify especially for Duo members these are usually 2 equal partners so shod have equal rights. Agree with the chap above the decision to be plan manager is usually artibitary.Even for Family members it's rubbish that children in the families can't access the books. 

[shanus88]

what a load of Baloney Spotify, get**bleep** together!

[Rach871]

We just realised this was the case today too . I was si confused why my partner couldn't access audiobooks on his account. Ridiculous,  I thought the idea was both members had a premium account !

[Helsgibbons]

I’d like to add my frustration to the other replies. As a PP said, doing this shortly after putting prices up is very unfair. 

[OliverH1]

How daft is this? Like others here because I share the cost of a family plan with my wife, but only I can listen to audiobooks. Where's the justification?

[5it4acqz9ixu2o3k2yi9]

There is always problems with spotify! I've complained in the past about the 'explicit content' filter not filtering peoples playlists with explicit titles. Also, you cannot change addresses, so have to cancel the whole account and start again. In summary, Spotify has a very low standard of software and it's design and integration team must only work 1 day per week. Another massive fail from spotify. Well done 😞

[Jperry]

This is ridiculous, what’s the point of paying for premium? Spotify scam. 

[Gabyohm]

It is not a fair access to audiobooks for Spotify Family users. The addition of audiobooks is awesome but the permission to download, restricted to the plan manager is not right. I was super excited to get my daughter to listen to an audiobook but extremely disappointed to find she couldn't access them! An update to allow all family users to benefit from this great initiative would be welcome. I don't think Apple Books has that kind of limitation.

[The_B888ts]

I am rather frustrated with the lack of response from Spotify on this thread. Akin to all the other users who have posted here, I do not think it is prudent for Spotify to allow only Plan Managers to have access to the 15-hour audiobook allotment. There is absolutely no reason that Plan Members should be treated differently than the Manager with respect to this. Especially considering that Members — in large part — consist of children unable to pay for their own Premium accounts; children deserve access to audiobook titles in their developing years.

Do better, Spotify.

[lyubasha21]

 I completely agree with everything said above. All family members in the premium subscription need to have access to listen to audiobooks for free, otherwise it becomes a useless feature when plan manager does not even listen to audiobooks. Spotify you can do better than that. We are paying a lot of money to have premium subscription and all members need to have the same privilege.

[CatHepburn]

My sister and I are both listed as "plan manager" on our premium plan, yet I do not have access to audiobooks and she does. This makes absolutely no sense, spotify! 

[Maxim]

@CatHepburn,

To ensure that we can offer you the best help that we can, could you please create your own thread? Doing so is easy. Simply select the appropriate board here, and then select “Start a Topic.”

Thank you very much!

[VeronicaEsiste]

Despite all the complaints I'm reading everywhere Spotify is not addressing anything. I find it ridiculous that they thought this feature could be great only for plan manager. Spotify, change this NOW 

[yeddish]

This needs to change quickly.  I was perfectly happy before adding audiobooks and now I'm upset.  My wife is the one who listens to them the most and we already have an Audible subscription.  Definitely not switching any time soon.  Great way to add a new feature and immediately **bleep** of the customer base with it.

[Etsharp]

This is a terrible policy. The promotion within the app said “Audiobooks now included in Premium”. There was no asterisk or additional disclosures. I have a Duo account with my wife. When I look at her account it says “you’re a member of a premium plan”. I was excited to tell her she could listen to her books, but when she tried to access them they were locked. I thought it was a glitch or an update problem but after trying to troubleshoot I came across this thread. What’s worse, I don’t have an easy way to switch her to the plan manager instead of me. I have no need to listen to the audiobooks but she does. Please change this policy as it is very aggravating to have part of the service we pay for limited to certain users. 

[Ijwalk]

Would also like to voice my disappointment in this absolute trash policy. Each premium member should have the same access, along with their own allotted hours for audiobooks. I am paying for a family of premium members, but all but myself are restricted of premium access? Fix this or lose customers.