Just in time for the holiday season, Spotify has launched another salvo in the increasingly competitive music streaming war. For a limited time, subscribers can sign up for a three-month trial of Spotify Premium for just 99 cents.
The deal is available throughout December, and is surely an attempt by the company to up the stakes in its battle with older competitors like Pandora, as well as recent upstarts Apple Music, Tidal and YouTube Red.
The company has offered this special deal in the past, but the last time it was available was back in May. Clearly, the world's top music streaming service is looking to not only add new users, but convert current subscribers from its free ad-supported service to the premium paid, ad-free side.
The last time Spotify announced the total number of paying subscribers for the service was in June, when it boasted that of its 75-plus million subscribers, 20 million were on the paid tier. Remember, though, the company offered the same 99-cent deal it is repeating now in May, so the company could technically have included those trial subscribers in its tally.
Spotify clearly hopes that via this promotion, users will become accustomed to the benefits of premium and choose to continue using it beyond the free trial for the usual $9.99 per month price. Besides the most touted benefit, which is ad-free service, Spotify Premium also includes higher quality audio as well as the ability to download music to a smartphone or other device for offline listening.
Apple famously offered a similar free three-month trial subscription to its recently-introduced Apple Music service. The reason Spotify offers its three-month trial for 99 cents as opposed to completely free is because charging that negligible amount allows it to collect the credit card billing information of subscribers so that it can begin billing them at the regular price once their trial subscription ends. Apple already requires all users with an iTunes account to provide a valid credit card, so it could offer its service free for three months, while still maintaining the ability to charge users once their free trial ends.
The lesson here is that music fans tempted to take Spotify up on its latest offer — who don't intend to continue once the three months end and they are required to pay $9.99 per month — should be careful to note the date their three-month trial period ends and cancel prior to that day in order to avoid being charged.
