Spotify tightens premium family plan verification to ensure users actually live together

Spotify acknowledged this week that it is tightening enforcement on its Premium Family plan, after users reported being prompted to prove they actually live with the plan's manager. Confirming the change during the company's third-quarter earnings call, co-CEO Alex Norström characterized the rollout as “a routine improvement” to existing verification tools rather than a crackdown. “Family Plan has existed for a long while… close to 12, 13 years in Spotify history, and it makes up a pretty significant proportion of our subscriber base”, Norström said, adding that there are “certainly ways, over time, to find holes around it” and that the company would keep refining its checks indefinitely. According to TechCrunch, the effort is aimed at steering users toward individually paid Premium subscriptions instead of letting friends or adult children living apart split a discounted family plan.

The mechanics of the new check are laid out in Spotify's own support documentation. Under the QR code method, the plan manager opens a code in the mobile app, found by tapping the profile picture, then “Your Premium”, then “Manage”, and each member scans it with their own phone camera. Both parties must be physically in the same place, since the code refreshes every few seconds. Members get a seven-day window to complete the scan after being notified; Spotify notes that QR verification works only in the mobile app and requires the latest version on both devices. Separately, the company continues to verify members by address, at signup, when a manager changes the address, or when an address can't be confirmed, and states that it does not track users' locations, only checks the address provided.

Failing verification carries real consequences. Spotify says members who miss the window or can't complete the check lose access to the plan and drop to the free tier, and cannot join a different Family or Duo plan for 12 months from the date verification failed, though the support page indicates they may rejoin the same Family or Duo plan. TechCrunch frames the timing more starkly for users who live far from the plan manager, noting that a seven-day deadline could be impractical for anyone not planning a return visit soon. Spotify directs affected users to browse alternative plans.