Subj : Spotify's cheaper music-only tier appeared and disappeared in the To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Fri Jun 07 2024 13:30:06 Spotify's cheaper music-only tier appeared and disappeared in the UK here's what it offered Date: Fri, 07 Jun 2024 12:13:11 +0000 Description: Spotify's CEO promised this would come, and now we maybe know what to expect from it. FULL STORY ====================================================================== In April 2024, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that the service would get a new paid subscription option that only focused on music, though didn't offer any further details at the time. If, like me, you've no interest in having audiobooks in your music streaming service, the idea of a cheaper option than Spotify Premium sounded great, especially given the recent Spotify price hike in the US . But we didn't know exactly what we'd get but maybe we do now, thanks to this new 'Basic' music plan appearing then disappearing in the UK. The good news is that the new tier isn't as 'basic' as it appears it's pretty much just Spotify Premium without the books. You get ad-free music, which can be downloaded, with shuffle and queue organization options, and shared listening. It also appears to be available in Individual, Duo and Family flavors. In return for going without audiobooks the price was lower: 1 cheaper for individual users and 2 for family users. In effect, it reversed the most recent Spotify price rise. And then it vanished. Where did Spotify Basic go? When I logged into Spotify this morning to take another screengrab of the new plans, which were previously under Profile > Account > Subscription > Available Plans, they weren't there and I've since gone over the website with a fine-toothed comb and can't find any reference to the new Basic plan anywhere on the UK website. What I suspect has happened here is that Spotify didn't want the new plan to be public quite so soon, so after it was spotted, the plug was quickly pulled to take it offline again. But the fact that it was there before suggests that it's going to launch pretty soon, and we have to assume it'll launch in other territories than just the UK. There'll be an uproar if it's not made available in the US, I'd imagine. 1 per month isn't a huge saving, but I suspect that a large number of Spotify Premium subscribers will welcome the opportunity to roll back the price hike to its previous level and give up the audio books. It could be a very popular option, and will bring Spotify back more in line with the other best music streaming services on price and features except for hi-res audio, of course . You might also like Spotify is moving lyrics behind a paywall in a likely bid to lure subscribers to its rumored Hi-Fi tier After 15 years, Im ditching Spotify for Tidal in 2024 heres why you should too My verdict on the new Spotify? It's time to switch to Apple Music ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/spotify/spotifys-cheaper-music-only-tier-appea red-and-disappeared-in-the-uk-heres-what-it-offered --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .