Subj : Spotify launches new Basic Plan in the United States here's what To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Sat Jun 22 2024 02:15:05 Spotify launches new Basic Plan in the United States here's what you need to know Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2024 01:00:16 +0000 Description: Spotify Basic serves as a downgrade for Premium subscribers who won't care about listening to audiobooks. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Spotify is launching a new Basic plan in the United States just a few weeks after the platform rolled out its second price hike in less than a year . The tier brings back the old price of $10.99 a month, and you'll receive all of the same benefits as the Premium plan except 15 hours of audiobook listening a month. That perk is not available on Basic, but access to music or podcasts will not be restricted. Whats interesting is this option is only available to eligible customers, according to the announcement . You cant sign up for the service by going to Spotifys subscription plan web page as its not there. All youll see are the Premium plans. A company representative told us you can see the options if youre already a current subscriber and youre logged into your account on desktop and on Android phones. It essentially serves as a downgrade for users who dont want the audiobook perk. iPhone owners are going to have a slightly tougher time. Because of App Store policies, the same representative told us iOS users are unable to change their Premium plan to Basic. They'll have to do it in a browser on desktop or a mobile browser. Basic Family Plan 9To5Google , in their coverage, discovered that theres also a new Basic Family plan, which costs $16.99. This second tier offers most of the same benefits as a Premium Family subscription. Youll gain access to Spotify Kids, parents can control content marked as explicit," and you can cancel at any time. There are a few differences. Users wont be given up to six Premium or Kids accounts as theyll all be considered Basic. And much like the individual Basic plan, families wont have the audiobook listening hours. The same representative from earlier confirmed that the Basic Family Plan exists as an option. Beyond that, everything else stays the same as the other Spotify Premium plans, and we wont see any changes or a third price hike. Global expansion Earlier this month, a Spotify Basic Individual option appeared in the UK for a brief period of time before it was pulled. Spotify has followed through, as the company rep informed us that the option is available in the UK and Australia. They also offer a Basic Duo plan to complement its Premium version, but they didn't give us a price tag for other additions. No word on anything relating to the long-awaited HiFi tier, although we suspect more new will come out soon. On June 11, a leak surfaced online from Bloomberg revealing what the platform may do with the HiFi tier . It may be released as an add-on to Spotify Premium and not exist as a standalone service. We asked if the company could give us an updates on the upcoming service, but they didn't tell us much stating that they have "nothing to share at this time." Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best music streaming services for 2024 . You may also like Why you'll still pay Spotify $5 extra for 'HiFi' even when lossless costs nothing on Apple Music Spotify shifts into reverse and starts offering refunds for Car Thing The 47 best podcasts to listen to in 2024 ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/spotify/spotify-launches-new-basic-plan-in-the -united-states-heres-what-you-need-to-know --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .