Home Technology Spotify wants to crack down on family plan sharing violations

Spotify wants to crack down on family plan sharing violations

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When it comes to digital subscription services, there is a lot of grey area around the idea of contract sharing. After all, when you subscribe to said service, they do allow for it to be used on multiple devices. However, the intention is often for a household of people residing in the same space who can access the services on a multitude of devices – and not for people to share with their family members and friends meaning that some do not need to pay for their use of the service (or contribute considerably less).

It’s something which companies have been debating for some time with some taking a stricter stance than others on just how much they will try to enforce these rules. It appears Spotify is looking to get even more serious about family plan sharing as they have dropped a new set of  terms and conditions (reported by CNET) that will now require the primary account holder and everyone else on the plan to show proof that they reside at the same address, which it will now confirm from “time to time” by asking users to verify their addresses.

Spotify has been looking for ways to clamp down on this in the past with the company previously wanting to secure people’s GPS coordinates to confirm that they reside in the same household, though this idea understandably ran afoul of privacy concerns and regulations and was abandoned.

The company does not indicate exactly what “proof of residence” would look like and I’m not convinced that they will be able to easily enforce this rule, though if they do ever find a way of successfully doing so you can bet that every other subscription service with a similar model is going to likely jump on it to ensure their terms and conditions are adhered to.

I just wish they’d finally launch the family plan here in South Africa.

Last Updated: September 13, 2019

18 Comments

  1. Yahtzee

    September 13, 2019 at 09:19

    So what about VNP users who jump all over the place in location.

    Reply

  2. mr.gamerman

    September 13, 2019 at 09:19

    If they do that then im sure most people will just cancel their subscription. I wouldnt want any company like that to have my adress with all the hacks everytime

    Reply

  3. Spathi

    September 13, 2019 at 09:51

    NVM! Missed the last sentence!

    Reply

  4. Spathi

    September 13, 2019 at 09:51

    NVM! Missed the last sentence!

    Reply

  5. HvR

    September 13, 2019 at 10:55

    Jirretjie tog nou moet ons al ons Spotify accounts FICA

    Reply

  6. Pariah

    September 13, 2019 at 09:19

    Literally the only reason I’m still subbed to Netflix is because my sister enjoys using it. If they had to enforce this and Netflix followed suit, well there goes any reason for me to have the sub.

    I wonder how many people are in the same position? It’ll be interesting to see how much revenue these companies gain or lose as a result. I suspect it’ll even out to about the same, with people who don’t currently pay not really going to suddenly pick one up apart from a few exceptions, and in the same ratio there’ll be people like me who really only keep their sub for others, so those will drop.

    Reply

    • Yahtzee

      September 13, 2019 at 09:19

      I also keep mine active for my one friend who watches like 10 shows a day on there. I would rather push that money into more anime streaming services with a good VPN…

      But hey. The I-Land looks kinda cool so ill give it a wack xD

      Reply

      • Pariah

        September 13, 2019 at 09:19

        haha I watched Spiderman: Homecoming this week. First thing I’ve watched in probably a month. But my sister also watches stuff daily. So eh.

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          September 13, 2019 at 11:29

          Wait……what. Spoderman on Netflix???

          Reply

  7. Yahtzee

    September 13, 2019 at 09:19

    So what about VNP users who jump all over the place in location.

    Reply

    • Pariah

      September 13, 2019 at 09:19

      Just like the letters in VPN? 😛

      Reply

      • Yahtzee

        September 13, 2019 at 09:19

        Same Same…but actually different

        Reply

  8. Caveshen Rajman

    September 13, 2019 at 09:51

    This is weird because what about the people who use their legitimate Spotify accounts at work, or at the gym? Not that we have a family plan here but just questioning the way this would work.

    Reply

    • Pariah

      September 13, 2019 at 10:00

      It probably only applies to multiple concurrent sign-ins. With Spotify I can log in on multiple devices, but I can only listen on one of them at any given time. And I can control my music on the PC while being lazy on the couch using my phone. I can also technically do this while I’m at the office if there’s music playing at home. That still only counts as one login though, so no problem there. And why would I use a different sign-in instance at multiple places if I can only be in one of them at any given time?

      Reply

      • Caveshen Rajman

        September 13, 2019 at 11:05

        So now imagine you’ve got a family account, right.
        Each person who has their own sign-in does what you do, which is using Spotify on multiple devices, let’s say for ease of use it’s: Home, Work, Gym
        That’s three locations PER account.
        That’s what I’m basically questioning here: How on Earth are Spotify going to enforce location verification like this??? If I move jobs must I now let Spotify know in case they don’t ban my account? xD

        Reply

        • I_am_Duffman!

          September 13, 2019 at 11:14

          They just want to make sure all account holders primary residence is the same address. You can still use your account out and about on many different devices in various locations. It really is just to ensure that the plan is used by people living together and not friends sharing an account. They will also probably only request a tiny percentage of people to actually confirm their primary home address.

          Reply

        • Pariah

          September 13, 2019 at 11:45

          It’s about per sign-in, not per account. With a family account there are multiple sign-ins. Each sign-in can have multiple devices and locations, but can only listen on one of them at any given time. I can’t listen on my phone and on my PC at the same time, one of those devices will be muted – and all of those devices will show the same track playing. With multiple sign-ins, each individual can listen to their music independently from each other at the same time, no matter which device or location – and it’s only when that is the case that this policy starts becoming relevant.

          Reply

  9. G8crasha

    September 13, 2019 at 10:08

    There are so many holes in this plan!

    Reply

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