Spotify allows users to immediately launch the song they want without a paid subscription

Something unusual and interesting is happening with the music streaming service Spotify. Having not made any changes to the logic of the service for years, last week it finally added the long-awaited support for FLAC lossless audio, and today it allowed users to play any track without a paid subscription.

For those who didn't know, Spotify didn't allow this before. When a user without a paid subscription clicked on a song in the search list, playlist, or by following a link from a friend, the service played a random song from that album or list. You had to switch to the next track until you came across the one you wanted, but the number of track changes without a paid subscription was limited to 6 per hour, so you wouldn't listen to much. Interestingly, the restriction applied mainly to the mobile version of the app - from a PC or tablet, you could play the track you wanted right away.

Probably, Spotify faced the fact that users simply switched to competing services that, despite the ads, allowed them to play exactly the song they wanted. This update could be one of the biggest changes in Spotify's policy in recent years, and it is clearly aimed at strengthening its position in the competition with Apple Music, YouTube Music and other platforms.