If you’ve been wondering how to get Spotify Premium for free, or at least for cheap, we found a lot of ways to save money while listening to great music.

Aaccording to Forbes, it has twice as many users as Apple Music, and it’s no wonder why.

While there are a lot of services and sites to download music for free, Spotify has one of the biggest selections of music and artsiest.

It offers a huge variety of music which can be streamed anywhere at any time.

However, many users have been trying to “hack” the system by searching for illegitimate ways to get Spotify Premium for free.

Below, we have listed the legit ways to get it.

We also explored the not so illegitimate hacks and why they don’t work.

Yes, you can use the gift card to add balance to your Google Play account and then purchase Premium from the in-app purchase on Android. Keep in mind that the premium subscription through in-app purchases is more expensive than subscribing from Spotify.

1. Exactly how much streaming services pay out to musicians in royalties has always been a hot topic. In truth, there's no simple answer, but we'll try to explain how much your music could be earning in streaming royalties from platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and more as well as the different factors that affect royalty payments.
2. Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs.

Legitimate options

Here are ways to get Spotify Premium for cheap that actually work:

1. Get 3 months of Premium for $0.99

Spotify is running a $0.99 promotion until June 30th.

For three months you will get Spotify Premium for only $0.99.

After that, the price goes back to the regular $9.99 but you can cancel the subscription at any time.

2. Spotify Premium almost half off with a student discount

Did you know there is a Spotify Premium student discount?

If you have a college or university email that ends with “.edu” then you can get Spotify Premium for at a discount.

For 12 months, they will only charge you 5.99 instead of the regular $9.99 price.

By the way, that .edu email address can come in handy when it comes to getting student discounts so be sure to take advantage of it.

3. Share a Spotify Premium Family Plan

If you know other people that are interested in getting a Spotify Premium account, you can save money by sharing a Spotify Premium Family Plan.

The family plan costs $15 a month and you can have up to six different people using the account.

When you split the cost amongst everyone, you only spend $2.50 month.

Spotify won’t split the bill for you, so you’ll have to make sure you collect the money from everyone each month. However, that minor annoyance is worth the savings.

4. Spotify Premium discount via PlayStation

If you have a PlayStation and the PlayStation Plus service, then Spotify has a special deal for you.

If you sign up for Spotify Premium through your PlayStation, you’ll get your first two months for just $2.

After that, the price goes back up to the regular $9.99 a month.

5. Free Spotify Premium for Starbucks employees

If you work at Starbucks, you might be eligible to receive Spotify Premium for free.

Starbucks offers the service for free for over 200,000 of its employees. To see if you are eligible, visit here.

6. Check for Partnerships between other companies

In the past year, more companies have been partnering with Spotify to provide special perks to its Premium members.

For example, T-mobile has special plans that allow you to stream the app without using any data.

Check with your internet or cell phone provider to see if they have any discounts for Spotify Premium.

Scams, Illegal Ways, and Hacks

Spotify revealed that about two million users are using hacks and tricks to get around advertisements shown on free versions of Spotify accounts, according to Reuters.

Many users don’t realize the dangers that can come from using hacks.

In some cases, as seen below, these hacks can end up costing you a lot more money than you would have saved from a free Spotify Premium account.

7. Change your date on your phone “hack”

Many people claim that if you change the date on your phone a few years back, it will extend your 30-day free trial to however many days you went back.

However, this can badly mess up your smartphone. Most apps on smartphones rely on the phone’s internal clock.

When you change the date, your phone will become overrun with error messages.

This can:

• Slow your phone down
• Become annoying to use your phone
• Cause data corruption if left too long

Doing this hack might end up costing you money to get your phone fixed. In the end, you might spend more than you saved on the Spotify Premium trials.

8. Third-party Spotify apps

One “hack” that seems popular is downloading an app which claims to give Spotify Premium for free. Supposedly all you have to do is download the app and then you’ll have access to all the music you want for free.

Unfortunately, most of these “free” apps come loaded with viruses. These viruses can spread from your phone to your tablet and computer.

Often, these apps will run background applications which can steal your saved passwords and even record everything you type.

This can be especially bad if you log into your bank account on your phone.

9. Free Spotify Premium codes

Some websites claim to have free codes for Spotify Premium.

However, they have a catch.

They usually require you to download an application that will supposedly generate the code onto your computer.

Not only do these applications give fake codes, but they can:

• Install spyware onto your computer
• Give viruses to your computer
• Steal information liked stored passwords and usernames
• Collect data to be illegally sold to third-party companies

Closing Thoughts

Spotify Premium is a great service that can provide entertainment and music at a low cost. However, on your search to get Spotify Premium for free, it’s important to be safe and not get scammed.

Have you tried any of these methods?

Or have you tried any other ways to get Spotify premium for free or cheap?

Let us and our readers know in the comments below what your experience was.

2007

The iPhone launches

And there’s no question it was a game changer. At first, Apple does not allow outside apps. But they soon realize that this approach is a non-starter if they want to sell more and more phones and really excite users.

2008

And then comes the App Store

Apple decides to open up the App Store to outside app developers and lures them in by the hundreds. They ask users – want to order a pizza, find your nearest florist, or look up how to do the Soulja Boy dance? “There’s an app for that.”

2008

Spotify Payment Options

Hello world! Spotify launches

Spotify launches on desktop at the end of 2008, bringing music streaming to the masses.

2008

Spotify is available on the App Store

It wasn’t long before we launched the Spotify iPhone app, giving our fans all the world’s music — wherever and whenever they wanted.

2010-2011

Apple starts changing its App Store Guidelines

When Apple introduced the Guidelines we thought, “Yep. Makes total sense to have rules for security, safety, privacy, and quality.” But Apple not only has unilaterally changed the rules themselves time and again, but also frequently decides to interpret (and re-interpret) them in ways to disadvantage rivals like us. So those totally legit things we did which were fully in compliance just a few months ago? Now apparently not so much.

2011 (Feb)

Apple eliminates payment system choice and imposes a 30% fee on content-based apps like Spotify...But at the same time, Apple prohibits us from showing customers how to upgrade any other way

For Spotify to use Apple’s billing system (IAP) — giving our fans the opportunity to upgrade to Premium — Spotify and others now have to pay 30% of any subscription fees. Apple now prohibits buttons or links to any other external ways to pay. This is the first of many moves from Apple that would make it harder and harder for our fans to upgrade to Premium.

2011

We deem the 30% charge as too expensive for our fans and our business

We elect not to use IAP for a bunch of reasons, including the fact that giving up 30% was too much for us to keep our prices low for our fans. Unfortunately, the end result is that you can no longer upgrade to Premium through the app.

2011 (Oct)

Siri launches on the iPhone, but won’t play Spotify

“Siri can you play that awesome Spotify playlist?” Siri says no.

2011-2014

For the next three years, we continue to face intense pressure from Apple to adopt their payment system

From 2011 to 2014, Apple puts us under constant pressure to adopt IAP.

2014 (June)

So, we give IAP a try. That means we are now charged Apple's 30% tax and sadly have to increase our price for our fans

Our users will finally be able to buy a Premium subscription directly through our iOS app. But it also means we have to raise our prices to €12.99 a month. And you guys were rightly not very happy about this.

2015 (Apr)

Us: 'Hey Apple, we love your watch; can we make an app for that?' Them: 'nah'

When Apple launches their new Apple Watch, they dismiss our proposals and won’t work with us to develop an app for it. However, they allow other apps to be on it.

2015 (June)

Apple Music launches at a price all too familiar to Spotify

Late to the streaming party, Apple buys Beats, rebrands it, and then launches Apple Music. Because Apple Music doesn’t have to pay the 30% IAP charge, they are able to hugely undercut us and charge €9.99. To our fans, this just looked like we were ripping you off.

2016 (May)

We opt out of Apple's payment system and the artificially uncompetitive price we had to charge for using it

Because we turn off IAP, it means you can no longer upgrade to Premium through the App Store *sigh*.

2016 (May)

Apple starts an intensified pattern of Spotify app rejections - and threatens to remove us from the App Store

Now that Apple has Apple Music, rejections of the Spotify app start becoming more and more common, and they even go as far as threatening to remove us from the App Store. Those rejections seem to coincide with our promotional campaign seasons.

2016 (June)

Apple tightens the App Store Guidelines...again

While we haven’t been able to include any buttons or external links to pages containing product info, discounts, promotions, etc. (even if they don’t link directly to a payment system!) since Feb. 2011, this time a “call to action” restriction is added.

2016 (Sep)

Apple rejects Spotify's proposal for an Apple Watch app yet again

We submit a new proposal for a streaming app directly on the Apple Watch. Apple declines.

2016-2017

Apple continues to make more frequent, unexpected and unjustified rejections of our app updates

Now just having a “Learn More” button is enough to upset the Apple cart even though this is the first time we’ve heard of such a rule. All we can do is focus on ensuring compliance, but that’s not easy when the definitions of what we can and can’t do change from one day to the next.

2017 (June)

App Store Guidelines are tightened once again

This app update means that rival apps have to agree not to “directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than IAP or discourage the use of IAP.”

2017 (Sep)

Apple continues to create obstacles around the Apple Watch

With WatchOS 4, Apple continues to make it challenging for us to deliver a workable streaming solution for the Apple Watch.

2017 (Nov)

Apple rejects Spotify's app again

Spotify Payment Method

This time, we are rejected because of a campaign that makes reference to a Spotify Premium promotion (“get 3 months now for €0.99”), despite only directing users to a landing page with no info on where or how to purchase Premium (which Apple had allowed only a few months prior). In fact, Apple’s chief lawyer told us a year earlier that such a landing page was OK, but that didn’t stop the App Store from blocking our app for this reason.

2018 (Feb)

Apple HomePod launches without Spotify support

Apple launches HomePod – the smart speaker that, like Siri, will do loads of cool stuff in response to voice commands. Well, lots of cool stuff except playing music through Spotify. Apple welcomes other apps to play on it, but until recently shut the door on competitive music streaming apps like Spotify.

2018 (May)

Pay Spotify Account

Apple rejects Spotify's app yet again

Rejected this time because we showed the word “Free” in Spotify’s app screenshots on the App Store. And apparently that’s prohibited…?!

2018 (July)

And the rejections keep on coming!

At this point, it’s hard to know how Apple will interpret anything that we do. This time, the phrase “Get in, Get Premium” is prohibited.

2018 (Sep)

Apple finally allows enhanced functionality for the Spotify app on the Apple Watch

With Watch OS 5, Apple allowed the Spotify team to start developing offline functionality.

Update (Oct. 2020): Spotify has rolled out streaming capabilities on the Apple Watch.

2019 (Feb)

Apple Music disregards its own rules

Apple Music sends the very type of promotional push notifications that it forbids its rivals to send.

2019 (Feb)

Next up on Apple's restriction list -- podcast recommendations

So we announce two podcast acquisitions we are super excited about, and all of a sudden Apple arbitrarily decides to prohibit use of its API to recommend podcasts to users.

2019 (March)

Spotify asks the European Commission to ensure a level playing field

When competition is fair, consumers and companies win.

2019 (OCT) / 2020 (APR)

Apple FINALLY announces that it will allow Siri integration on certain devices

Spotify Update Payment

Apple, for the first time (and after years of unavailability), will allow Siri integration with Spotify, letting users on certain devices with iOS 13 control Spotify using their voice. However, you still can’t choose Spotify as the default music player. And unless you mention our name (“I want to play [X] on Spotify”), every time you give a command to play audio, Siri will default to Apple Music and so will your Apple device.

Make Payment Spotify App Subscription

2020 June

The European Commission launches a formal investigation into Apple

Spotify Bill Payment

A key development not only for Spotify, but also for consumers and the many other companies around the world that are being disadvantaged by Apple’s anti-competitive behavior.