Music streaming giant Spotify is introducing changes to its free tier in India, potentially hampering the user experience. Effective immediately, free Spotify users in India will no longer have access to functions like repeat, rewind to specific song sections, backtrack to previous songs, or customize playlist orders. These adjustments were implemented as reported by Musically, and Spotify will also communicate these alterations through in-app notifications.

Spotify

Instead, Spotify is adopting ‘Smart Shuffle’ as the default playback method for free-tier users. Smart Shuffle introduces songs outside of your playlist, based on your listening habits. This means the traditional shuffle option is no longer accessible to free users.

This shift suggests Spotify’s strategy to encourage free-tier users to consider premium subscriptions. By modifying the free experience, the company might nudge users towards a more versatile and seamless paid service. That being said, removing basic features like rewind and going to the previous song is sure to leave a bad taste in the mouths of many users.

As these changes go into effect, it remains to be seen how Indian users respond to this new free tier experience and whether it motivates them to explore premium subscription options or switch to platforms like YouTube Music that still offer these features for free.

In related news, Spotify might be getting ready to launch a better music quality service, called “Supremium.” While we don’t know all the details yet, it could let you arrange your playlists by danceability, tempo, and key. There might be smart playlists and a feature called “Soundcheck” that helps you find music you like.

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