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Users of Spotify's free tier in India are subject to limitations. These users won't be able to manually rewind or play tracks in a particular order anymore. Additionally, they won't be able to choose a certain song's section, repeat songs, or go back to earlier tracks.
The only way for Spotify customers to receive these advantages is to sign up for Spotify Premium, which in India costs as little as Rs 119 a month.
Less options for free users
India has one of the highest monthly active users of the service and is among the top five countries, Spotify told TechCrunch. "However, in terms of subscriber to free user ratio, it lags behind the premium market as most users in India opt for the ad-supported model," the company added.
The experience for free users in India is now close to what users in other countries experience, and these changes come as the market matures, according to Spotify.
Premium subscribers can choose and play any songs they like, and the stream duration is unlimited. In addition, users can simply listen to any song again by going to the playlist and tapping on the desired song.
What do non-premium users currently have access to on Spotify?
From now on, Smart Shuffle is the default listening mode for all free users and they cannot turn it off. The traditional blending mode is only available as an additional feature. Smart Shuffle recommends songs based on the user's taste and the currently listening song or playlist.
The feature, which was available to subscribers, was originally launched to provide better recommendations for songs to add to a specific playlist. Despite price hikes in several countries, Spotify has so far not increased subscription prices in India.
Spotify Premium plans in India
The cost of a premium Spotify subscription in India is 7 rupees per day, and it grants access to ad-free music on mobile devices as well as the capacity to download up to 30 songs at once. Additionally, Spotify's 119/month membership gives users access to up to 10,000 songs across 5 devices.