SPOTIFY PONDERING A 90-DAY LIMIT ON FREEMIUM—REPORT

Spotify may soon put a three-month limit on its unlimited free streaming tier, “multiple” unnamed sources told Digital Music News.

The three-month “proposal,” advanced most principally by UMG and Sony Music, would allow current, free-access, ad-supported (or ‘freemium’) subscribers to continue their plans for six months, while new users would be limited to three months only, Paul Resnikoff wrote. The three-month plan would also allow a number of artists and labels to extend past three months if they so choose. Those artists would be grouped into “emerging” or “up-and-coming” playlists, similar to an idea being drafted at Apple. That, coupled with an open-access, non-interactive radio feature, is designed to preserve some of the free-access while encouraging a faster migration toward paid, premium monthly plans.

“It’s weaning them off free, is one way to think about it, while making [Spotify] more in line with [other streaming services],” one source with knowledge of the discussions told DMN.

“This was drafted as a sort of compromise idea in mind,” another source is quoted as saying. “But, in all reality, remember that Morris and Grainge aren’t really asking as much as they’re telling.”

Asked about the DMN story, a Spotify spokesperson stated, “It's totally false. Our model is working.”