How to get Spotify Premium on iPhone or iPad

Learn why you can’t subscribe to Spotify Premium from inside the official iOS app and how to do that on your iPhone or iPad.

In this short post, we’ll tell you why you can’t subscribe to Spotify Premium from inside the official iOS app using Apple billing and how to eventually get the premium music experience on your iPhone or iPad. Apple takes a cut from app developers for every app and subscription sale, In-App Purchase, and sale of digital goods and services (like movies, not physical products like Amazon) made inside an iOS application using Apple’s own App Store billing method.

Because of this, an app developer may have to share up to 30% of their sales amount with Apple as commission. After the first year (i.e., from the second year onward), Apple charges a 15% fee on subscription renewals. Now, there is an App Store Small Business Program where Apple takes a reduced 15% commission, but this is only for new and existing businesses that do up to 1 million USD in annual sales.

Given Spotify’s size, it definitely does not qualify as a small business. Secondly, Spotify has to pay royalties to record labels, music publishers, and artists for the songs people stream on its platform. These licensing costs make up the majority of its revenue expenses. Unlike Apple Music (owned by Apple) or Amazon Music (owned by Amazon), Spotify operates as a standalone music streaming company.

It does not have a larger, highly profitable hardware or e-commerce business subsidizing it. In a nutshell, Spotify already operates on thin margins, and paying App Store commissions would further reduce Spotify’s margins. To avoid this, app developers who are already popular, such as Spotify and Netflix, don’t offer the option to buy a premium subscription plan right in their official mobile apps.

This way, they don’t have to pay any commission to Apple. Spotify stopped letting new users sign up for a premium subscription via the Apple App Store around 2016. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union and recent court decisions (like the Epic Games case) in the United States relax the rules and allow app developers to display pricing information and include links to their own websites for purchases.

Spotify has done this for users in the United States, as seen in the screenshots below. However, in other markets, Spotify still has to follow old Apple App Store rules that prevent it from showing the price or providing a clear link to direct customers to its website to make the subscription payment. 2) Once you’re ready to make the purchase, tap the trial or get buttons if visible (for US and EU users).

If you’re from another region, visit spotify.com/premium in Safari or Chrome on your iPhone, iPad, or computer. If you see prices in a foreign currency, scroll to the bottom of the website, tap the current region name, and select your own. 3) Scroll down to see all the premium slabs: Individual, Student, Duo (for two accounts), Family (6 accounts), or some other region-specific plan (like a Lite plan in Asian countries).

Select the plan you want, tap the buy button, and sign in using the same account you use in the iOS Spotify app. 4) Now, enter your address (it’s used to calculate tax), select a payment method (which varies based on the region), go through your subscription summary, and complete the purchase. 5) Once the payment and subscription are successful, force close and reopen the Spotify app on your iPhone, and you’ll see the premium benefits here.

You can log in with this same account on more than one device across any platform. Since you have not (and cannot) subscribe to Spotify using Apple’s own App Store billing, you won’t find it under the Subscriptions field in iOS Settings > Apple Account. When you want to cancel your Spotify subscription, log in to spotify.com in a web browser and complete the cancellation process.

Summary

This report covers the latest developments in iphone. The information presented highlights key changes and updates that are relevant to those following this topic.

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