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7.7

Overall Score

LAST UPDATED: March 18th, 2024

One of the big names in the music streaming industry, Spotify was founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and co founder Martin Lorentzon. It didn't launch, however, until October 2008-and back then it was called Spotify AB. While Spotify is quite popular today among United States users, it actually launched in Sweden first. Two years after the launch, it had acquired about 10 million users, and two years after that (2012), that number doubled to 20 million.

As of 2014, the company boasts 50 million active users. Talk about rapid growth! When Spotify first launched, it wasn't the most accessible streaming service around. People could only use it if they received an invitation to create an account, and even then they were required to pay for the account. Nothing was free. After a few months, however, the people at Spotify wanted to develop a free version-which led to the options users enjoy today.

About 12.5 million people pay for a subscription to use Spotify while the rest enjoy free (ad-supported) streaming. What makes Spotify unique? Unlike some competitors, Spotify doesn't just feed you preselected songs. It lets you hand-select songs you're in the mood for.

What's more, you can download songs from Spotify and listen to them offline on your device. Spotify syncs with a variety of platforms too, including the Web, Android, iOS, and Windows.

Signing up for Spotify is much more accessible now that the company is older. To do so, you just create a username and password and then enter your email address, date of birth, and gender. You'll also need to download Spotify on your device in order to play songs. With over 30 million tracks to offer, you'll hardly run out of options. Despite its current popularity in the US, Spotify didn't become available there until 2011.

More than 1,200 employees strong, it now reaches more than 50 languages and operates in 60 different countries. Its worldwide headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden, and London, UK, and its US headquarters are in New York, New York.

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The Good

Possibly the best thing about streaming with Spotify is the control you have as the user. Unlike some competitors, Spotify lets you pick the song you want to listen to right now. You can also create and save personalized playlists. Spotify also boasts a library of 30 million songs-and adds about 20,000 tracks to this library every day.

About 1.5 billion playlists have been created on Spotify so far. With that extensive of a library, chances are good that you'll be satisfied with the music you can stream on-demand. As a consumer, one of your primary concerns is price. Spotify won't let you down there.

As long as you're willing to put up with ads, you can stream Spotify for free! Even if you don't want ads, the premium plan (which is ad-free with even higher-quality audio) is just $9.99 per month-about the same amount most competing services charge. As a bonus, students enjoy a 50% off discount every month.

Spotify is also accessible in 60 countries throughout the world, which means it's easier to take your music with you when you travel or move.

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The Bad

One word: ads. Because Spotify's free version makes no profit off of users, the company relies on ads and paid subscriptions to make any money. So unfortunately, to use Spotify you should be prepared to either tolerate ads every few songs or fork over a monthly fee.

What's more, some users have complained that certain ads on Spotify are inappropriate. This can be a major turnoff, especially to users who want family-friendly streaming. Not only do these ads interrupt your music experience; they can leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.

In addition, to use Spotify you need to take the extra step to download Spotify on your device. Downloading it isn't a major red flag by any means, but it does add an extra step and possibly troubleshooting on your part. In general, the music streaming industry is still fairly new, but there are admittedly options with more years of experience than Spotify.

Because Spotify has been around since only 2008 (and in the US since only 2011), it has a shallower history than some competitors. Again, this isn't a reason to avoid using Spotify, but it may be a reason for any kinks you experience with them. Streaming music is an online pastime, and, as such, the website for it should be easy to use. Spotify's website is easy enough to navigate, but it's a bit visually overwhelming and includes unnecessary information.

Because of this, it may take a little extra effort to find the links you need. All in all, most of Spotify's limitations are not red flags but, instead, might disagree with your preferences. So as you search for the right streaming company, you'll need to know what's most important to you.

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The Bottom Line

As a company, Spotify has proven successful in many countries throughout the world in the short number of years it has been operating. In addition to suggesting new music to users, it specializes in on-demand listening and gives you more control over the music you enjoy.

Bear in mind that to use Spotify, you'll need to download its player on your device. But on the whole, they offer plenty of music, extensive platform accessibility, and widespread availability.

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4.6

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1,223 Reviews

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1%

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Janessa P Logan, UT

I have only ever used free trials of Spotify and used the free version several years ago as well as listened to many ads on Spotify. I have noticed they have a lot of options for music and it seems anyone can put music onto Spotify. It is few and far between that I can't find a song I want to listen to on Spotify. Some of the music is really weird though!

4 weeks ago

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Oskars Baltais

Spotify is great. More and more artists are entering it. The playlists are fine. However, there is an issue that has been irritating me ever since. I am paying for Premium and listen to Discover Weekly every week since it tends to have some good suggestions. I never listen to German music and I have only a couple (like 2) French songs in my playlists but I keep on having multiple German/French songs in the playlist. I always skip them ASAP and I believe there should be a filter in the algorithm that should recognize that the reason why I skip a song in most is the language.

6 years ago

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r vido Orem, UT

I've been paying for two Spotify accounts and only using 1. Spotify customer service refuses to help. This happened due to a mistake on my email I made when upgrading the account. After finding this mistake and trying to fix it with 10 different customer support agents, they told me I could not get a refund. Result I paid for a premium account 6months x 9,99€ and 12,99 x 6months/2people, spotify refused to give me back to 60€ of surplus payments. I thought Spotify was a great service. I've used it for years, and thought it was user friendly, tailored and just affordable - for the price of 1cd a month you have access to all the music you could want. But now I just feel robbed.

2 years ago

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Heidy Mejia

I really like the app when it comes to easily download the music I want, what I don't like it's that I have to download the whole album instead of one of them. Also, I don't listen to reggaeton it still suggests me playlist of it ( I don't know why). But I still skip it.

4 years ago

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Mojibola Obadimeji

Spotify is really good , nice songs and playlists, customer service on Twitter is a bit slow but they definitely reply. Sound quality is good but they need to increase the sound output, compared to Apple Music and soundcloud their sound quality is a bit shaky.

6 years ago

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Erin St Pierre

I use Spotify almost every day, and the only thing that bothers me is the ads going on for over a minute at a time. I'm sure they pick people with the most annoying voices they can find for the ads to get people to buy a subscription.

6 years ago

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Beth Farmer Pleasant Grove, UT

We use Spotify to stream our music. I do think we will switch to Amazon Prime music just because it's very difficult to use multiple Echo's in one house with Spotify. If my kids turn on Alexa in their bedrooms my Alexa will stop playing. Spotify does have a good variety of music and they make it really easy to make play lists. If they were easier to use with Echo's/Alexa's we'd stay with Spotify.

4 years ago

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Amber Saratoga Springs, UT

I liked Spotify okay. I liked that I could share my playlists and follow other people to listen to their playlists. The only thing I found annoying was that there were some songs I couldn’t find or if I did find them it wasn’t the original arrangement of it. For instance, I was trying to add some Def Leppard songs and I could only find remixed songs that they put together more recently. I just wanted the classics.

5 years ago

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Quinn Deitrick Gretna, LA

Spotify is a great service for listening to music. Almost un-matched for streaming music, but the ads are just unbearable at times so unless you’re willing to pay for premium it may not be worth it.

4 years ago Edited September 14, 2021

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Destin’e

I requested 3 times to have my single placed under the correct artist name on their website. It wasn’t until i contacted them through twitter did i get a response and started working on it.

6 years ago

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Carlie Andrews

I really dislike the fact that Spotify has podcasts available on all devices such as iPod, tablets, desktops and laptops etc. The main reason for why I have Spotify is to listen to the podcasts!

6 years ago

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Ron Durfey Orem, UT

I have loved my Spotify service. However I am NOT happy with how they catered to Neil Young and others as they have raised their voices against Joe Rogan. I purchase this service to listen to great music and to listen to great podcasts NOT to have a political agenda pushed on me.

2 years ago

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Jared Robinson Provo, UT

Spotify is an okay app. It is well-known as a great music platform, but I think that mostly has to do with it being free. The frequency of ads has been increasing fairly frequently, as well as the ridiculousness of them. It tries a little bit too hard to be hipster, and pretends to be anything but the mainstream app that it is.

2 years ago

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Lindsey Haight Logan, UT

I use this almost every day! It's a great selection of music for fairly cheap. I would warn if you ever cancel to make sure that they're not charging you anymore. There was once that I had to cancel my account for a time and they kept charging me until I had to go to my bank to get it sorted out.

2 years ago

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Trey Bishop Logan, UT

Love the service. Love the features. It does not integrate well with Alexa. I had the family plan. Unfortunately, Spotify will only allow one Alexa device to play at a time. My kids could not listen to music at the same time in different rooms. Amazon music and Apple Music both allow multiple Alexa devices

3 years ago

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Tiffany Nguyen , IL

I absolutely love the service that Spotify provides. It has the songs that I want every time I search it up; however, I don’t like the fact that I have to pay for premium in order it to be as free. Overall, it’s a great music/radio app.

3 years ago

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Rocio Diaz Tallahassee, FL

Very annoying to use if you have the free version as the advertisements are non-stop. The pricing options range from time to time depending on the specials going on but not a good streaming service if you want to use it for free.

4 years ago

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Mike Ika West Valley City, UT

Spotify is my third favorite music streaming service. The biggest issue I have with Spotify is that I feel they repeat a lot of the same songs over and over. Maybe they dont have quite the selection of music, or maybe they’re trying to cater to what’s popular, but either way I hate hearing the same songs over and over again.

4 years ago

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Zharia Allums Haines City, FL

Although I’ve been a pausing customer, I’ve never used all that Spotify offers. I’ve used the family plan, yet I seem to be mote fond of Apple Music than Spotify (my family still uses Spotify though). I also dislike how there is not a discount for college students.

4 years ago

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Katherine Whyte Miami, FL

The layout for Spotify is not the most appealing or user friendly, but if you want to enjoy streaming music and don't mind a few ads and limitations this app will be great for you! There is an option to purchase the premium version of this app to receive a less limited version of the app and its services.

4 years ago

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Michele Gardner American Fork, UT

I have the free version of Spotify. It is nice, but sometimes the ads are super annoying because the same ones play over and over. I love being able to make playlists without actually having to buy all the songs, but there are some songs that I want that Spotify doesn't have.

4 years ago

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Wendy Glade American Fork, UT

My kids love spotify. I have the free version so I listen to it sometimes. I don't like the shuffle play feature, as I like to hear albums straight through with the songs in order. But Spotify has a great selection of songs and artists.

5 years ago

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Cassidy Larsen Gilbert, AZ

Spotify is a really good music streaming app, and it almost never glitches. However buying premium does not seem worth the cost, but enables many more aspects of the app that are extremely helpful that most everyone would enjoy.

5 years ago

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Brighton fenton Lindon, UT

I used to use Spotify, but now I use Apple Music. I liked Spotify alright when I had it, but I seem to like Apple Music slightly better. They are both good for different reason and some music you can find on one but not the other, vice versa.

5 years ago

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Mindy Clarke Tacoma, WA

I tried this far awhile but I felt it was not as easy to navigate as my other music streaming service and it costed more.

9 months ago

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Kurt Didenhover Salt Lake City, UT

Spotify has the best playlist management and song variety. The family plan is easy to use and setup for family members. The service always works and I love the integration with Sonos in my home.

2 years ago

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Jeff Thurgood Draper, UT

I used to use Spotify every day. I've moved away from it because as a parent I absolutely need parental controls. And some of the album covers are downright inappropriate. Need ways to protect kids!

2 years ago

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Jason Spokane, WA

It's super cool to use and I love the interface of it! But the free version doesn't offer you its best features and the songs that it suggests for me I often am not interested in.

2 years ago

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N Oakland, CA

I have a mixed relationship with Spotify. The app is great if you have premium, but if you’re a non subscription user like me, it ain’t worth it. Love the Spotify wrapped tho!

3 years ago

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Cecilia Jones Ellisville, MS

There isn’t a lot of variety in the types of songs on this app, however I love that you can create your own playlist. This app is amazing for long drives if you don’t want to listen to the radio!

3 years ago

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Benjamin LeBlanc Dallas, TX

Spotify is a van tastic music streaming service however the severely steal money from the artist that are publishing their stuff on the site they do not pay their artist well at all.

4 years ago

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Christyan Bennett Hattiesburg, MS

I enjoy Spotify and the variety they have to offer. I don’t like you have to pay for there not to be ads. Also the length of the ads are way too long and make my experience less enjoyable.

4 years ago

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Don Boren American Fork, UT

Has a good selection of artists and songs to choose from. I like that you can make your own custom playlists. I don't like that the app pops up on my computer every time I start-up.

4 years ago

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Amy Boren American Fork, UT

So my kids love spotify and it is great with music. The only problem we have is what it brings with it onto your computer. It drives my husband crazy trying to clean up the laptop.

4 years ago

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Ben Crisp Temecula, CA

I’ve never really been a fan of Spotify. The app is super confusing and complicated. It does have a good selection of music and the student monthly price is very convenient, but Spotify is definitely not my first choice

4 years ago

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Brenda Spanish Fork, UT

I like using spotify to create shared playlists. My friends have the premium version so they can download the songs but I have the free version just so I can add songs to our group list.

4 years ago

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Evelyn Chidester Riverton, UT

I use spotify frequently . It has a large selection of music to choose from. I upgraded once but when I went to cancel that was really difficult. If you dont mind commercials I would reccomend Spotify.

5 years ago

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Catherine Vienna, VA

There is too much going on in the app so it's not easy to navigate when you're looking to change stations quickly. I think it would be much better if the layout was more simple.

5 years ago

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Grace Christensen Gilbert, AZ

I have the free version of Spotify and enjoy it for the most part. I think it's fair to have to listen to an ad and get 30 minutes of free music, however I wish skips were allowed.

5 years ago

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Avery Fowler Pleasant Grove, UT

Spotify always has all the latest songs and is super reliable! The only I wish was that you didn't have to pay so much, i wish you could just listen to the songs you want with affordable prices.

5 years ago Edited September 14, 2021

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Jacinda E Sandy, UT

I have used it a couple of times and like that I can select specific songs to create a play list however I have a hard time working the program.

6 years ago

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Jacks Friend Riverton, UT

I like the idea of spotify. The free version has tons of ads, I guess that's to be expected. I wish you could request specific songs on the free version.

2 years ago

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Rocio Diaz Tallahassee, FL

Free option is not good due to abundance of advertisements and unlimited skips. Otherwise, the family plan is a good deal and they have a lot more music than competitors.

2 years ago

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Rachael Berhan Salt Lake City, UT

Fun for listening to music but they have a lot of ads on the free version and sometimes it will just start playing random music that isn't on the selected playlist!

2 years ago

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Tanner Midvale, UT

Overall I think Spotify is pretty good, there were just a few things I didn’t like, I really dislike getting all the adds and I also was just bad at finding music

3 years ago

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Vincent Leuzze San Jose, CA

Very good music selection and very good sound quality but when there are ads super often it kind of ruins the listening experience so getting premium is quite important

4 years ago

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Rylie Crandall Draper, UT

I switched to Apple Music after using Spotify because I felt like Spotify was sometimes confusing in their setup. I did like how you could que songs up easily

4 years ago

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Camber Lehi, UT

Amazing selection of music--the best in my opinion. However, this company doesn't allow for family sharing plans and strictly enforces this. So we went back to Google play.

5 years ago

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Sav Alpine, UT

Spotify is a great way to find playlists with the music you love. It is an awesome app to listen to playlists and find new music. Sometimes is is very slow though.

5 years ago

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Rashida Laumatia Saint George, UT

Love the music but others I wish it would be edited. Even when I type in the song and the word “clean” after it, it still slips some unedited songs in there.

5 years ago