There are various music streaming platforms, but Spotify is the largest in the Netherlands. This is partly because you can listen to Spotify on so many different platforms. And because we are Dutch after all, also because in principle it is free. But you can also save on your Spotify subscription and usage.
Spotify is a music streaming service that allows you to listen to music from today, from the past, from all kinds of styles and from well-known and lesser-known artists. There are millions of songs on the platform and hundreds of songs are added every week. You can stream via WiFi (or via your phone's data plan, but beware: that will cost you a lot of MBs) via your phone. It can also be done via the computer or tablet.
Data charges
Music service Spotify is in principle free, but then you will be imposed a number of annoying restrictions. For example, with a paid account you can listen to music offline. You can then download the songs, so you don't need (or use) an internet connection to listen. That can save you a lot in data costs and you can listen to music on the plane. There is no restriction on the amount of music or the artists from which you can download music, although at some point your phone is really full.
You can, however, create playlists with a free account containing only songs that you have chosen yourself. If you just want to listen to the album of your favorite artist, that's also possible, because the music library is arranged by genre with all kinds of playlists, and by artist with the albums and singles that can be listened to separately for each artist. In short, even with a free account you have just as much access to music. However, there is an important reason why people still opt for a Premium account.
Ads
The biggest reason is that people don't want to listen to ads anymore. The free Spotify has a knack for regularly letting you hear the same advertisements, which makes you tired at some point. If you have a Premium account, you pay a tenner a month for it not to have to hear that. But also to be able to hear music offline.
Moreover, with a free account within a playlist you cannot specifically choose a song, because everything goes on shuffle. That is not the case with a paid account. In addition, a paying customer can also expect better sound quality, because you can listen to music at 320 kbps. However, that's pretty much everything a paid account has as extras, so: being able to listen offline, no ads, in better sound quality and with the specific choice for certain songs instead of shuffle.
Save with a family plan
If you want such a paid subscription, you can take out your own account for 9.99 euros per month. However, then you have an account for one person, which also means that you can only listen on one device at a time. Moreover, you pay the full pound on your own. Better get a family account. That is four euros more expensive (14.99 euros), but you can use it with several people. Up to six people to be exact. If you let them all share in the costs, then everyone listens to Spotify Premium for only 2.50 euros. You can of course share such a family subscription with whoever you want.
There is another way to get a discount on Spotify, but then you have to get a solo account and study. Spotify offers a 50 percent student discount. You must be able to prove that you are a student via SheerID. Even then, it is actually better to take out a family subscription, provided you can find enough people to share this with.
Spotify is a great service to use without paying, but especially if you use it often, those ads can become very annoying. Moreover, for people who fly a lot, being able to play music offline is a big pro. So it all depends on what your own preference is. The advantage is that you can use Spotify for free and can therefore easily test what suits you best.
