Spotify Expands Free Tier: Users Can Now Pick and Play Any Track

Spotify has released several updates that make it easier for free users to listen to specific tracks.

The changes:

• Ad-supported accounts can now ‘Pick & Play’ individual tracks in any playlist, and on any album track list.

• Previously, users on this tier could only listen in shuffle mode on mobile devices, and were limited to six skips per hour.

• The number of on-demand minutes a listener has per day is, however, limited, although Spotify have not confirmed that number.

• In addition, queuing remains a Premium feature.

Other updates:

• ‘Search & Play,’ through which free users can search for their desired track and start listening instantly.

• ‘Share & Play,’ which means tracks shared by friends in a message, or by artists via social media, can be played on mobile immediately. This was previously only available on desktop or tablet.

The timing:

• As Digital Music News points out, this move comes off the back of Spotify’s Q2 2025 advertising-revenue decrease and free streaming’s half-year recorded-revenue slip.

• The updates also give free listeners less reason to use competitors such as YouTube.

What they said:

• Gustav Gyllenhammar, VP of Markets and Subscriptions (via Music Business Worldwide): “Young users felt like the old Spotify free experience on mobile was almost broken. They tried to tap on things, and it didn’t work. The behavior that young users have in their media consumption models today – they really expect this to work. Obviously we saw retention challenges with an experience that is not living up to users’ needs.”