Spotify officially announced the revamped experience for free users. They will now be able to listen to on-demand playlists and will not have to shuffle to be able to listen to the songs.
This is the first update for free users since 2014.
On-Demand Playlists
Spotify finally confirmed previous rumors that have been reported since April 19. In an event on April 24, Spotify revealed that free users will now get on-demand access to 15 select playlists. Users will be able to play any song in those playlists without having to shuffle until they get to the song that they want. Free users will still have to shuffle to listen to songs outside of those select playlists.
Previously only premium users were able to listen to specific tracks. This made the premium version of Spotify more appealing. The change was probably prompted by the fact that Spotify has over 90 million free users. Sixty percent of premium users start out using the free version of Spotify.
During the presentation, Spotify said that by improving its free experience, there will be higher chances for those free users to become premium users. According to Spotify chief research and development office Gustav Soderstrom, increasing the features for free users will earn the service more fans.
More Changes
Spotify also announced other changes to its free version. Free users will now be asked to choose their favorite artists when they download the app. This lets the service provide personalized playlists with artists that the users like.
Some of the other changes include a data saver mode. Spotify says that this feature will reduce data usage by up to 75 percent over 3G. This will lead to reduced quality of the songs that are being streamed.
Spotify also made changes to its user interface by reducing the number of buttons from five to four. The previous version of the app had five buttons which included: Home, Browse, Search, Radio, and Your Library. This has been reduced to four buttons: Home, Search, Your Library, and Premium. Spotify consolidated Browse and Search into one Search section that features all of the old information.
With Spotify's continued effort of removing clutter from the app, users will now be able to save songs by selecting the heart icon. Previously, users had to click "..." which presented a list of options.
Spotify currently has 70 million paid subscribers. This move is seen as a way for the service to stay ahead of its competitor, Apple Music.
