Most group-type subscription plans offered by music streaming providers are usually structured as family plans. But with the launch of Spotify Duo in 2020, listeners now get more flexibility before deciding on a plan that creates the most value for their dollar. One clear difference between Spotify Duo and other plans, such as Spotify Family, is definitely the pricing model. But many other factors are equally important and should be considered alongside pricing. Unfortunately, it can take a while to analyze and decide if the plan is worth investing in, and most people just aren’t aware of where to start. This is where our guide can come in handy and help you assess all the essential factors before you consider switching to Spotify Duo. Read on to learn more!
What Is Spotify Duo?
Spotify Duo is the latest Premium plan launched by Spotify in 2020, targeting couples (or even roommates and siblings) who live together. This Spotify 2-person plan essentially offers discounts on the subscription fees for any two people who live at the same address, not necessarily couples. There is no need to share any login credentials or take turns using the service. Moreover, all of your past saved music and playlists will be retained even after you join the Duo plan. The person signing up for the plan first will become the Plan Manager. The Plan Manager will be the one:
Handling the payments to Spotify; Setting the residential address during initial sign-up and subsequent re-verification requests; and Inviting or removing the other member too depends on the plan manager.
How Is Spotify Duo Different From the Other Spotify Premium Plans?
Spotify offers four different types of Premium plans: The following are the main ways Spotify Duo differs from the other plans:
Monthly subscription fees Number of accounts Duo Mix (phased out in 2022)
Monthly subscription fees
Spotify Duo allows up to 2 Premium accounts for only US$12.99, which works out to only US$6.50 per account. But of course, there will be no savings if you change from the Premium Student Plan to Duo. That said, Spotify Premium Duo might still be the best plan that allows you to get the most out of your money whenever your student status eligibility has ceased.
Number of accounts
Spotify Duo runs as a two-account Premium model plan. This means that at any point in time, up to two Premium accounts can be registered for this plan. Raise your hand if you’re one of the few listeners who has signed up for the family plan without maximizing the number of accounts allowed, only because it would give you a discount of up to US$2 per account compared to the Individual Plan. Thankfully, the introduction of Duo has introduced more flexibility in terms of the plans offered by Spotify, offering users a way of fully enjoying Premium plan benefits at a discounted rate! No more looking outside of your living space to capitalize on the best of Spotify!
Duo Mix
Duo Mix was a feature only available to people on the Spotify Duo plan when it was first released. With Duo Mix, you and a friend can share a playlist, and Spotify will suggest songs you might both like based on your listening activity. On top of that, there are also two mood options for you to choose from. Chill mode for lazy Sundays with easy-to-listen-to laidback tempo and Upbeat mode for your road trips to help lift your spirits with an increase in music tempo. The Duo Mix features are similar to those offered by Family Mix, an exclusive feature made available only to those on the Family Plan. However, both Duo and Family Mix have been phased out by Spotify in all markets, as of May 2022. Not to worry, the silver lining in this scenario is that Spotify’s “Blend,” launched in August 2021 and largely inspired by both Duo and Family Mix, continues to be a trending feature of the platform today. With Blend, you lose the feature of changing the playlist with a switch of the mood, from Chill to Upbeat. However, this feature can be easily replicated by creating multiple Blends with different genres of music saved in them. With the dropping of the mood feature, Spotify has come up with a new feature that allows users to blend with some of their favourite artists like BTS or Charli XCX. This feature also allows you to find out how alike your music preferences are to those of your favorite artists.
Who Can Get Spotify Duo?
Any two people who live at the same residential address can get Spotify Duo. Apart from having the same residential address, you can only change your group plans, such as Duo or Family, with Spotify once in every 12 months. If you have already switched from one group plan to another in the past 12 months, you’ll have to be on the new group plan for 12 months before you’re allowed to make the change again.
How Spotify verifies your residential address
You must be thinking about how the verification is done and if there’s any way you could get around this requirement to enjoy the Duo plan even when living at different addresses. Today, Spotify will do its first level of verification during the sign-up phase, where the Plan Manager has to input their residential address. A sharing link to invite another member to the plan will be provided, in which the member would also have to key in their residential address. This is the first-level verification where Spotify will check that both have entered the same address. It is also worth noting that only the Plan Manager has the visibility and rights to view and make changes to the residential address registered for the plan. If at any point in time a change of residential address was initiated by the Plan Manager, the member would also be required to re-input his/her address for verification purposes.
Is Spotify Duo Worth It?
Spotify Duo is certainly worth it if you’re among the users who has either:
Signed up for the Individual Premium plan despite having another member of your house on Premium, too; or Underutilizing the Family plan to enjoy the savings from a per-account standpoint as opposed to the Individual plan
Here’s a quick summary of the pros and cons of Spotify Duo.
Spotify Duo vs. sharing of one Individual Premium plan
If you’ve been sharing your Individual Premium plan with others, you may have already faced disruptions in your listening experience. This happens because another device is also trying to stream music from your account. This ends up pausing the music that has been playing from your current device. What’s worse is that the recommendations from Spotify on the new releases and weekly mix might not even be from genres that you enjoy. No thanks to the different listening tastes from the other user you’ve shared your plan with.
Spotify Duo vs. two Premium Student plans
If you and another member are eligible for the Premium Student plan, keeping to the Student plan would be the best way to get your money’s worth. Especially so when your motivation to convert to the Spotify Duo plan is the ability to have a shared playlist via Duo Mix, which has now been phased out and replaced by Blend. The Student plan also comes with additional perks such as access to Hulu and Showtime, which are only made exclusive to members of the Student plan.
Do other music streaming platforms offer any Spotify Duo alternatives?
No other music streaming platform has any similar offers as Spotify Duo. The only Premium group plan that most other providers have offered is the Family plan, usually ranging from five to six accounts per plan.
How to Get Spotify Duo?
Now that you have read through the analysis of Spotify Duo, the next step would be to find out how to get it.
How to sign up to Spotify Duo: for new users
Once the Plan Manager has been decided, setting up Spotify Duo is pretty easy. Here’s how you can get on the plan.
How to remove a member from your Spotify Duo plan
It takes the same steps to add and remove members from your Spotify Duo plan. Simply click on the user profile you’d like to remove from your plan on the page that you went to when sending out the initial invite (Step 4 of how to join the plan) and select remove. A pop-up window confirming the removal will show, requesting your confirmation.
How to get Spotify Duo with an existing Premium plan
If you’re already on a Premium plan and would like to switch over to Spotify Duo, you’ll need to check your current plan’s end date so you can properly utilize the benefits of the plan you’ve already paid for. Otherwise, you’ll either have to forgo the prepaid amount before the switch or write to Spotify to get a refund on the unused period. To play it safe, you could also consider canceling your Spotify Premium plan first before signing up for a new plan. Next, you should not have switched to other Group plans, i.e., Duo or Family, more than once during the last 12-month period in order to sign up to a new plan. If you have, you will be prompted with a pop-up window informing you that you cannot join the plan.
Conclusion
We hope this article will have helped you decide if Spotify Duo is worth your money (or not). However, objectively speaking (at the time of writing), the Duo plan is the best choice to upgrade to if you’re looking to enjoy Spotify Premium with another person living under the same roof – at lower rates – without all the hassle of sharing each other’s login details. Besides, you get tracks curated specially for you and can bond with your friend or sibling or roommate even – anywhere and on any device, as long as Spotify has verified that you both live at the same address. So, which plan did you ultimately choose and why? Do share your experience in the comments below!
