Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Spotify has decided to enforce its household location policy for Family plan holders, this time with another check that makes it harder for users to bypass it. However, a workaround has already been found, though it’ll probably be patched quite fast, as the subscription sharing crackdown is gaining traction.
While Netflix has pretty much pioneered the rule that says that members of a Family plan should be part of the same household – and therefore have the same IP when they connect to the service – this approach came back into the spotlight earlier this year after a massive crackdown launched by Google for YouTube Premium Family account holders.
Google has started restricting access to YouTube Premium for Family users unless they live at the same location as the administrator. While users complained that a family doesn’t necessarily have to live under the same roof – and recommended that Google rename this plan to YouTube Premium Household – the verifications included a demotion to the ad-supported tier.
The same is now happening with Spotify, which so many of us use to listen to our favorite tunes while driving, only that the demotion also includes a 12-month ban for users who aren’t part of the same household as the account owner.
Photo: Spotify
Spotify has started conducting a series of checks, asking members of Family plans to confirm that they are part of the same household.
The verification is done with a QR code that appears on the account holder’s phone. The plan manager needs to open the QR code from the Manage screen of the Your Premium section, while the user who needs to verify the account must scan this code with their camera.
Spotify explains that the verification is successful only if the two are in the same place, and reveals that once you get the verification request, you have 7 days to complete it. Otherwise, you’ll be demoted to a free plan – meaning that you’ll start hearing ads – and get a 12-month ban for Spotify Family and Duo. You can get other plans though, including the individual account.
Photo: Spotify
Several users have confirmed in the last few days that they received this verification request. Just as expected, many have started looking for loopholes, and the most obvious thing most people tried was to screenshot the QR codes and send them to the rest of the group to complete the verification.
This method doesn’t work, as the QR codes are refreshing every 3 seconds, so you must scan the codes in real time to complete the verification.
A workaround has already been found. Users video call each other from other devices, showing their screens with the QR codes on camera and allowing the rest of the group to scan them as if they were together.
Photo: Spotify
Surprisingly, the method appears to work, despite Spotify clearly stating that “both the manager and the member need to be in the same place to complete the scan.” There are obvious ways to circumvent this restriction, considering the verification probably takes place via the IP of the connected devices, and VPNs are the most obvious. However, the method seems to work even without being in the same location.
It’s probably a matter of time until Spotify comes up with a patch for this method, so overall, subscription sharing is becoming significantly more difficult, even for people who were part of the same family.
In the United States, Spotify Premium costs $12.99 for individual accounts and $18.99 for the Duo, which allows for 2 premium accounts. Spotify Premium is available for $21.99 per month, with access for up to 6 accounts, meaning the cost per account drops to just $3.66.
Spotify states that the Family plan is available only for “family members residing at the same address.”
Photo: Spotify
Users blast Spotify for enforcing this rule since families don’t always have to be living together.
“I have shared my Spotify Family Plan with my actual family for about 7 years now. For the last 6 of them, I’ve lived nowhere close to them. Last night I got this message,” someone wrote on reddit. “In the same boat, I’ve got two brothers on mine that don’t even live in the same state as me,” someone else added.
However, it doesn’t look like everybody is getting the new re-verification email, as several users explained on reddit that they’re also sharing their accounts with other family members who don’t live under the same roof, and everything is still working correctly. This could be just an experiment for now, as Spotify hasn’t publicly announced the crackdown on subscription sharing, but we should hear more about this shortly if it gains traction.
There’s also a chance that Spotify is just enforcing the re-verification for a number of accounts that it flagged for various reasons, though without further data, it’s impossible to tell what exactly is happening. Let me know in the comments box after the jump if you, too, received the re-verification email.
