I’ve been ripping into subscription services lately and Spotify caught my anger too. Now, Spotify has started letting Premium subscribers in India hear selected new releases up to three days before everyone else on free plans. Called Spotify Premium Early Access, it launched on 28 August with two singles from Universal Music Group artists, and free listeners get the same tracks once the window closes.
To be fair, Spotify does have a free tier, so waiting up to three days for a new release isn’t bad. That’s my take on it, and I’d expect the feature to reach Ireland at some stage.
What is Spotify Premium Early Access?
It’s a release window that puts paying subscribers up to three days ahead of free listeners on selected new music, and nothing more sinister than that. Spotify says no music is permanently held back, and only releases the artist and label agree to include get a window.
The first two releases were Chimna by Badshah and Divya Kumar, and Stuck On You by Harrdy Sandhu. Both reached Premium subscribers on Friday 28 August and everyone else on Monday 31 August, so free listeners effectively missed a weekend. Spotify explains the scheme on its Spotify Premium Early Access support page which lists India as the only market.
Why Universal Music Group is behind it
Spotify is flipping the switch, but the idea belongs to Universal. On its second quarter earnings call on 30 July, UMG said new releases from its major domestic and international artists in India would go to paid subscribers first for 72 hours, on global and regional streaming services alike. So this isn’t a Spotify decision alone, and other services in India are covered too.
UMG’s case is that very few streaming users in India pay for a subscription, and it points to China, where it ran a similar model from 2019, as proof the approach works. That’s UMG’s own argument rather than an independent finding. Spotify’s wording is also more cautious than UMG’s, since it talks about selected releases where the artist and label opt in.
Is a three-day wait really a problem?
No. A free listener gets the same music on Monday that a subscriber got on Friday, and nobody loses access to anything. It’s also a lot gentler than 2017, when Spotify let Universal artists keep albums Premium-only for two weeks, with singles left open to everyone.
It isn’t a favour to fans though. It’s a nudge towards paying, and a nudge works better the longer the wait gets. Three days is fine. Two weeks is a different conversation, and it has been tried before. Critics have also argued that paywalling new music can reduce listening rather than lift subscriptions, which UMG disputes.
Will Spotify Premium Early Access come to Ireland?
There’s no sign of it yet. UMG has only announced the 72-hour window for India, and there’s no date for Ireland, the UK or the rest of Europe.
UMG did say it expects other markets to follow, so I’d still expect it here at some stage, and I wouldn’t be giving out about it. If you’d rather not wait for a release, that’s what Premium is for, and Spotify Premium Individual in Ireland costs €12.99 a month after the increase we covered in our Spotify price hike in Ireland article.
