Americans pay for about three streaming services and it doesn't take an accountant to see these numbers add up over time. There is a practical way to cut down on this number without sacrificing too much, and it starts with the Spotify Free version.
Let's get the painful truths out of the way first. Spotify Free does not allow offline downloads and has ads, and imposes limits on skips and shuffling. If I already lost you, bear with me — that is the brunt of it.
The numbers don't lie. As the name suggests, it's free, so you just saved yourself $12.99 a month for the individual plan (or roughly the same for another music streaming service) — over the course of five years, without factoring in future price hikes, that's about $780 you'd spend without ever owning the music. And you probably have more than one streaming service. This is the no-brainer frugal choice for streaming.
Plus, if you have an existing Spotify Premium account or any Spotify account for that matter, all your songs, playlists, and precious listening data are still there. A downgrade does not reset or erase your library, unlike canceling an Apple Music subscription.
You can still pick any song in your library to listen to, albeit limited — you can skip 6 songs an hour on mobile, and unlimited skips on desktop. For most people, including me, this is fine. It also forces a music listener to be intentional. When I can only skip 6 times, I take time to intentionally queue songs or albums to leave on, rather than doom-scrolling through my library searching for the perfect song to match my exact feeling (it never comes). You still get access to playlists with friends, and the social features of the app, like seeing your friends' listening history and Spotify Wrapped.
If you're wondering how to navigate offline listening while using Spotify Free, read my next piece on how I handle offline listening for road trips and similar situations.