Can I share a Premium subscription with a close friend?

[azspotaz]

I'm very interested in subscribing for Spotify Premium subscription!

But because of my not very well financial situation, just wondering if I can share my subscription with one close friend of mine?! like the same people do with a Netflix Ultra plan (4 screens/people)!

[Billy-J]

Hey @azspotaz, thanks for reaching out to the Community!

Your friend can use your Spotify account, but Spotify is intended for personal use and therefore you can only listen to Spotify on one device at a time.

There is some more information on the Premium subscription here.

If your close friend resides at the same address as you, you may be able to subscribe to Premium Duo - a plan for two people living together. There is some more information on the Premium Duo plan in this Spotify Answer.

I hope this clears things up! If you have any more questions, you know where to find me. 

[azspotaz]

Thank you for your answer, @Billy-J  

I understood what you said, but a couple last questions to understand everything about Spotify subscription plans and choose the best, and will appreciate your answer if you know clear legit answer to it:

1) Considering that you can only use one device for streaming with the Individual plan, what if you choose Duo plan that states "2 Premium accounts for a couple under one roof"? Does it mean Spotify permits two individual discounted accounts (or two individual devices) to stream at the same time only if they are connected to the Internet with the IP?!

2) If that is the case (answer to last question is yes), does it mean even with Family plan that let 6 individual Premium accounts accounts stream at the same time, they should have connected to the Internet by the same IP?!

Thank you for your time

AZ

[Billy-J]

Hey @azspotaz,

I'll be happy to answer your questions. Before I continue and make sure I'm providing the most accurate answers, by IP do you mean Individual Premium, or IP address (location)?

[azspotaz]

Hi @Billy-J

Thank you for reaching back and the question.

To clarify, by "IP" I meant Internet Protocol address.

Thank you

AZ

[Billy-J · Accepted solution]

Hey @azspotaz,

Thanks for confirming!

Premium Duo is a subscription for two people living together. Two people have separate Premium accounts, but under one plan, so therefore one cost per month.

And once you verify your address when you accept and join a Premium Duo plan, you can use Spotify wherever you want, so you don't need to be at the same physical address to listen to Spotify. Additionally, the two people can listen to music separately and at the same time, since you'll both have your own accounts using Premium features. There is more information on how the Premium Duo plan works in this Spotify Answer.  

To answer your second question, yes that's correct. Same as the Premium Duo in the first answer above ^ applies to Premium Family, just with up to 6 accounts. More information on how Premium Family works in this Spotify Answer.

I hope this clears things up. If you have any further questions, you know where to find me.

[azspotaz]

Hi again @ Billy-J !

Thank you very much for sharing these two guides. Very clear information! I searched around Apple Music plans in the meanwhile and since you are not a Spotify employee, as said under each message from you, I wanted to consult with you to choose between the companies, the best economic plan! So I have another (hopefully the last) question, if you don't mind: 😉

Here:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Answers/How-does-Premium-Family-work/ta-p/4937667

you said:

"To accept the invite, you must live at the same address as the plan manager, make sure you're logged in to your own Spotify account and provide the correct address by either using location services or entering it manually."

I understand that the idea of offering "Family" plan is for a real biological family (in the ideal case) under the same roof! but I think it can also mean a family of close friends or so, isn't it?! For the Spotify information, Apple Music has a family plan and I didn't see anywhere mentions about all the (max. of 6) members of the plan have to live together or so. It seems pretty much a budget plan for people who risk to find interested close friends to subscribe under the same plan where the manager accepts the financial risks, etc. Like Netflix Ultra plan where many share between 4 people!

Now considering the fact that, although I like Spotify a bit more than Apple Music, despite being deeply in the Apple "echosystem"!, I can not invite all my friends to my home one by one to log in to Spotify after I start a Spotify Family plan and send them the invitation link, do you think I have a chance to start a Family plan and send invitation links to my friend and they will be able to sign-in from their own address?! (It would have been great if Spotify already understood this considering what its competitors currently offer!)

[Billy-J · Accepted solution]

Hey @azspotaz, 

Thanks for getting back in touch.

I understand your concern, and I have tried to find how Apple Music Family plan works, and I managed to find a support article about how to start a Family plan from there here. 

On to your question - yes I understand your concern, but in order for Premium Family to work, the members would have to be reside at the same physical address or be at the same physical address at the time of signup.

I'll make sure to pass your feedback on to the right folks. If you'd like to see an option to let any one join the Premium Family plan without having to be at the same physical address, you can always create a new Idea about this here. There is some more information on how the Ideas Exchange works here as well.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[azspotaz]

Hi Billy-J !

Yesterday, I subscribed to Apple Music 3-month free Family plan to try it out with a friend (although it will be free for 3 months!!); and as I had seen the main pros and cons of Apple Music vs Spotify, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ViULNUz2rc

it is true that I cannot cast the Apple Music on my Chromecast built-in speakers. I'm not a fan of AirPlay (my current speaker set does not support it) and Bluetooth connections. That's my number one priority to choose Spotify over Apple Music, but not yet!! Even Amazon Music app lets you cast to their own Echo speakers and Alexa enabled speakers like what I currently have (Sony Z9F+R soundbar-woofer).

It is sad sad sad!!! that Spotify has a few main drawbacks (including living-together! restriction with Family plan) compared to its competitors. Hope "Rock Star"s like you can encourage the company leaders to improve and improve! The video I mentioned should be enough for them to start a few projects to improve at least for a few drawbacks clearly discussed in the video that are important to music lovers like this YT channel owner, you and me! 😉

Thank you for your time for this conversation.

Best

Ali (Montreal, Canada)