Spotify Makes Free Account More Appealing, Redesigns App

Since launching its IPO, the stakes have just gotten quite a bit higher for music streaming service Spotify. As such, it needs to attract more users and it appears that it’s trying to do so by making its free service more appealing. The company also recently redesigned its app, so now, free users can enjoy a new visual look and on-demand playlists.

The announcement was made during a recent event in New York, where Spotify provided several interesting details about its service. The detail that gained the most attention, however, is the fact that free tier users will actually be able to get on-demand playlists, The Verge reports.

Granted, these playlists are only limited to 15 and they are quite “select,” but it’s better than the alternative. At least now, users won’t be at the mercy of shuffled tracks where they have absolutely no control other than to turn the app off or to pay for the premium service.

Having access to these playlists basically gives free users the ability to play any song within those playlists as they want. They can keep playing the same song over and over again if they prefer, or they could choose any of the tunes that are available.

As TechCrunch notes, the total number of tracks that free users will be able to choose from is about 750, which can translate to about 40 hours or so of music. Of course, not all of the songs on that list are going to be the listener’s preference, but they are still free.

Along with the increased appeal to the free user account, Spotify will also apparently start offering a low-data feature with its app. Basically, this is where playing tracks will not consume as much data as it normally does, which helps users save on expenses. Perhaps they can then use the money saved to pay for the song they are listening to via Spotify.