Spotify is finally lifting one of its biggest frustrations for free users: the inability to play specific tracks on demand.
Alongside the long-awaited rollout of lossless audio for Premium subscribers, the streaming giant has announced that non-paying listeners can now search, pick, and play any song they want—without upgrading to Premium.
Previously, Spotify’s free tier relied on shuffle playback, often forcing users to skip through randomized tracks to reach the one they wanted. Skips were capped at six per hour, making it one of the service’s most restrictive limitations.
Now, free users can tap on any track, album, or playlist and start listening directly. However, restrictions remain. CNET reports that free listeners can only play one song before the app automatically shifts into shuffle mode.
“Only Spotify Premium users have complete control to play and skip music without restrictions,” Spotify spokesperson Luke Mackay told The Verge. “Mobile listeners of the updated free experience will be able to tap on any song or search for what they’d like to play… Each user has a daily allocated amount of on-demand time. Once this limit is reached, users will then be limited to six skips per hour.”
The free tier will still include ads, but the change makes it easier for users to enjoy songs shared by friends on social media without running into shuffle barriers. It also reduces the incentive to turn to rival services like YouTube when trying to play a specific track instantly.
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