Spotify is tightening controls on its Premium Family subscription to prevent it from being shared between people who don’t live under the same roof. The streaming platform implements QR code verification and gives affected members seven days to confirm their situation. The company’s co-CEO Alex Norström presents this measure as a simple improvement to existing controls and not as a new crackdown on account sharing.
A QR Code to verify that Spotify subscribers coexist
The operation is simple: the subscription manager displays a QR Code from your phone, which other members must scan with their own device. The operation aims to confirm that they reside in the same household, a condition already provided for by the rules of Spotify’s Family offer.
Required members have seven days after notification to complete this verification. The code changes periodically, making it difficult to use remotely. This method is especially aimed at friends or family who share a subscription even if they live at different addresses.
The consequences can be significant for users who do not respond in time. A member who fails to meet the deadline or validate their status will not be able to join another Family or Duo subscription for 12 months. However, they can subscribe to an individual Premium subscription.
This restriction can complicate the situation for people who legitimately use a shared subscription, but cannot easily meet with the administrator to scan the code. In fact, verification requires that both phones be in the same place at the time of the operation.
Spotify talks about continuous improvement
Interviewed during the presentation of the company’s quarterly results, Alex Norström minimized the scope of this development. According to the co-CEO, the family subscription has been around for almost 12 or 13 years and represents a significant portion of Spotify subscribers. Therefore, the music streaming service needs to periodically improve its verification methods as users eventually find ways to bypass the controls.
Spotify thus presents this measure as an ongoing process, with no expected end date. The goal is to better enforce the terms of the offer and limit sharing between separate households, which will likely reduce the number of individual paid subscriptions.
