Spotify’s free tier is getting a major upgrade. Listeners without a subscription can now play any song on demand, look up specific tracks, and jump straight into music shared by friends or artists on social platforms.
Spotify is branding the additions as “Pick & Play,” “Search & Play,” and “Share & Play.” Pick & Play lets free users tap play on the exact track they want. Search & Play makes it possible to type in a song and start listening instantly.
Share & Play bridges social media and Spotify, so music shared via Instagram Stories or Notes opens seamlessly in the app. Until now, free users on mobile were largely limited to shuffle with a small number of skips.
The company says these capabilities are rolling out worldwide, though free accounts will still face certain limits that don’t apply to Premium. Perks such as lossless streaming, AI-generated playlists, and Mix will stay behind the paywall, while features like Messages and the personalized “daylist” remain available to everyone.
The timing aligns with Spotify’s renewed focus on advertising. CEO Daniel Ek recently told investors the company had been “moving too slowly” in monetizing free listeners. With a goal of driving ads to 20% of total revenue—versus 11% as of June—improving the free experience could boost engagement and ad exposure.
Free listeners still represent the majority of Spotify’s audience. In the latest quarter, the platform reported 696 million monthly active users, including 433 million free, ad-supported listeners and 276 million Premium subscribers.
Spotify is also introducing creative tools for non-subscribers. Free users can now customize playlist covers with their own images, colors, text, and graphics—available across 128 markets.
Daylist, the automatically updating mood-based playlist, refreshes throughout the day to mirror listening patterns and help users discover tracks that fit specific moments.
For discovery, free listeners can dive into staples like Discover Weekly, which delivers a fresh set of recommendations every week, and Release Radar, which highlights new drops from followed artists. Real-time lyrics support makes it easy to sing along, and built-in sharing lets users send songs or lyric snippets to friends on Instagram, WhatsApp, and more.
Altogether, this global update meaningfully expands Spotify’s free tier—giving non-subscribers more control, personalization, and social connectivity, and turning them into more active participants in finding and sharing music.
Read Also: Spotify Rolls Out Lossless Audio To Premium Users Globally