Bad news for Spotify users as music labels push for bigger restrictions on free service

A MUSIC industry heavyweight is pushing to have heavier restrictions placed on Spotify’s free streaming service. Find out what this will mean for users.

Spotify app for Sunday Herald Sun 50 Apps feature

A MUSIC industry heavyweight is pushing to have heavier restrictions placed on Spotify’s free streaming service.

According to the Financial Times, Universal is leveraging current contract negotiations with Spotify to push for more limitations on the free service to encourage users upgrade to a paid subscription.

Currently, the free version of Spotify offers unlimited on-demand streaming on computers and limited streaming on mobile devices — both services also contain advertising between songs.

Paid subscriptions, which cost $10 per month, offer users on-demand streaming with higher-quality streams, no advertising and the ability to access Spotify offline.

Lucian Grainge

Universal chief executive Lucian Grainge said he found major flaws with the freemium model.

“Ad-funded on-demand is not going to sustain the entire ecosystem of the creators as well as the investors,” he said.

Universal isn’t the only label making the push, with unnamed sources echoing the sentiments in an interview with Rolling Stone.

“We need to accelerate the growth of paying subscribers — that’s a slightly more positive way of saying we need to limit free,” said a source at a major label,” they said.

“You can make the subscription service more attractive, with high-resolution sound or exclusive albums, or you can make the free version worse, by limiting the amount of stuff you can listen to.”

It is unclear whether Spotify will implement the changes, but it would appear they are unlikely to change their stance.

At a 2013 conference unveiling Spotify’s newly unlimited mobile services, chief executive Phil Ek said he backed the free model.

“We’re giving people the best free music experience in the history of the smartphone. And the more you play, the more likely you are to pay,” he said.

Taylor Swift has previously criticised the streaming service. Picture: Evan Agostini