How much does Spotify consume-Since you love listening to music, all your friends have been recommending you to install Spotify, a popular application that allows you to stream thousands of songs on your smartphone. An application that offers a service in a completely legal way, among other things, and that also offers the download of songs to your device.
Interesting right? I bet you would have already downloaded it to your smartphone, except that you have some doubts about how it works, the cost of the service and the consumption of Internet traffic. So would you like to know more? OK, I can answer all your questions. In this guide of mine, I will explain in detail everything you need to know about how Spotify works, the costs of the available subscription service that you can possibly subscribe to and the consumption of the application on mobile devices.
How much does Spotify consume?
If you are then actually interested in finding out in detail how much does the streaming music application consume and what are they the costs to be incurred for using Spotify unlimitedly, I suggest you take a few minutes of free time. By reading this guide in detail you will have all the information you need to be able to evaluate the use of the application. Are you ready? So sit back and concentrate on reading. You will see that you will find all the information you need and you will then be able to provide all the explanations even to your friends in need of a similar tip. That said, let’s proceed. I wish you a good reading.
How Spotify works
Before talking about the consumption of Spotify on mobile devices, it is necessary to make a premise on the functioning of the application and its availability.
Spotify is available for download free on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, but not only. To listen to Spotify streaming music it is also possible to use the desktop client for PC and Mac, but also many other devices. The Spotify application is in fact also present on smartwatches, video game consoles, Smart TVs and some audio systems. Here are some of the most popular platforms in detail:
- Smartwatches– Spotify is available on smartwatches with Android Wear operating system. Compatibility with Apple Watch is not yet supported. However, there are third-party apps that allow you to use Spotify on Apple Watch.
- Chromecast– All Google device models are supported.
- Video game console – Spotify is present on Sony home consoles, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 and on Nvidia Shield.
- Sound systems and Smart TVs– Spotify is also integrated in some audio systems (for example the Sonos Play 1 speaker) and in some Smart TVs (for example those with the Samsung brand).
- Web browsers– There is also a web version of Spotify that can be used from the desktop with any browser that supports Flash Player.
For the complete list of devices where Spotify is present, consult the list on the official website.
Spotify comes as a basic application free and its main feature, i.e. listening to streaming music via the Internet is therefore basically the same on all platforms where it is available. There are therefore no substantial differences to report on particular devices.
To listen to streaming music with Spotify, the purchase of albums or individual songs is not required, and it is possible to use Spotify completely free, provided you keep in mind some limitations as well as the presence of commercial breaks.
However, there is also the possibility of subscribing to a premium subscription to the service which, in addition to removing the limitations which I will tell you about in detail shortly, allows you to listen to streaming music in higher quality. Another feature reserved for paying users is also the possibility of download music on the memory of your device, to then be able to listen to it in offline mode. Useful function for those who want to make intensive use of the application and avoid consuming Internet traffic on their smartphone, thus first downloading the playlists via Wi-Fi and then playing them without a connection.
Spotify – Subscription Prices and Benefits
With these due premises, let’s see in detail how much it costs to subscribe to Spotify Premium, the limitations imposed on free accounts and what are actually all the advantages offered following the subscription to the service.
- Spotify Free (free account)– You can listen to all the music in the catalog, interspersed with frequent commercial breaks and the presence of advertising banners within the application. Listening to music is also possible only in shuffle mode: this means that the music within the chosen playlist is played randomly. You can change tracks, but you have a maximum of 6 changes per hour. It is not possible to download music to your device’s memory to listen to it offline.
- Spotify Premium (9.99 euros/month or 119.88 euros/year)– The premium subscription also in this case allows you to listen to all the songs in the Spotify catalog, from any device and without the presence of commercial breaks. You can download music offline (up to 3,333 songs per device with a maximum of 3 devices). Streaming music can be heard in high quality (up to 320kbps) and you can stream music from the app to speakers, TVs or other devices to use the Spotify app as a remote control
- Spotify Premium for Family (from 15.99 euros/month)– You can save on the subscription by subscribing to the Spotify Premium for Family version which supports up to a maximum of 5 accounts. The benefits of Spotify Premium for Family are the same as Spotify Premium subscription.
However, keep in mind that the paid subscriptions mentioned above they have no time constraints: they can therefore be canceled at any time.
If this is your first time using Spotify, you can try all the features of the Spotify Premium subscription for free for a duration of 30 days. To obtain the free trial, however, it is necessary to indicate the details of a valid payment method (credit card or PayPal).
Clearly you will not be charged any amount as long as the trial period is active but the renewal is automatic. As a result, if you try Spotify Premium and then don’t want to renew your subscription to the service, you’ll need to turn off the renewal before your free trial expires. Otherwise, the cost of the Spotify Premium subscription will be deducted from you and you will be able to obtain the renewal of your subscription for another 30 days.
If you need more information regarding the subscription plans available and the other platforms where Spotify is available, I suggest you take a look at the appropriate section dedicated to assistance which is present on the official Internet of the service.
When do you consume Spotify?
To evaluate the actual consumption of the Spotify streaming music application, you need to install the application, as through its settings, you can eventually adjust the consumption of data traffic.
To download the application on your Android or iOS device, go to the digital store of your smartphone or tablet (App Store for iOS) and play store for Android and locate the Spotify application using the appropriate search engine; just type the word Spotify to find the app (it has a symbol of a green circle). Then press the relevant button to download and install the application on your device.
Once you have downloaded it correctly, start it by tapping on its icon. In case of first access you will have to proceed to register for the service. Alternatively, access the application by logging in and then entering your login details.
Once you’ve successfully logged into the app, tap the button your library to access the section dedicated to your account. In the new screen that opens, tap the button with the gear symbol which you find at the top right: you will then be able to access the application settings.
Now you just have to click on the item music quality: you will thus be able to adjust the quality of the streaming music, autonomously evaluating the data traffic consumption of the application. You have the following options available:
Streaming music quality:
- Automatic: independently adjust the quality of the streaming for a good relationship between quality and consumption. It is the recommended setting.
- Normal: the option normal it is equivalent to about 96 kilobits per second
- High: the option high is equivalent to about 160 kilobits per second
- Maximum: the option maximum is equivalent to approximately 320 kilobits per second (restricted to users of Spotify Premium)
How to Download music quality:
The consumption of downloaded music on the device’s internal memory depends on the number of songs or playlists you want to download. However, you do have options to reduce the space.
I also remind you that downloading music offline is a feature reserved for users of Spotify Premium.
- Normal: the option normal is the recommended one
- High: the option high will download the music in higher quality, taking up more space
- Maximum: the option maximum download music in high quality.
As for the battery consumption for listening to streaming music using the Spotify application, it all depends on the battery of the device on which you intend to use the application.
Clearly, if you always keep the screen unlocked to navigate the application, to read the lyrics of the songs or to change songs often, there will be a higher consumption. If you want to optimize Spotify’s battery consumption, my advice is to leave the screen locked and let the songs play automatically.