Spotify joins forces with Amazon and Bose to further boost its number of free users
Just like arch-rival Apple, Spotify cares first and foremost about its music streaming service's number of paying subscribers. Unlike Apple Music, though, the global leader of this thriving industry also welcomes people unwilling to pay for their favorite tunes, allowing them to listen to songs they might enjoy with ads, no offline support, and shuffle-only playing capabilities.
In addition to those compromises and a sound quality downgrade, Spotify Free users were imposed several restrictions until recently in terms of devices they could stream their music on, but now a bunch of restrictions are being lifted, which is likely to further expand the platform's reach and boost its already impressive tally of 248 million monthly active users (including both paying and non-paying subscribers).
Shortly after Sonos, Amazon and Bose are joining the list of major Spotify partners supporting free streaming on their popular smart speakers. That's right, you can now ask Alexa to play Today's Top Hits or a custom-made playlist on an Echo device or Fire TV. This is an especially notable event given Amazon's own music streaming service includes a free, ad-sponsored tier as well, once again proving the e-commerce giant knows how to collaborate with rivals in mutually beneficial ways. It's also interesting to point out Spotify has a history of high-profile marketing alliances with Google, so who knows, maybe its Premium subscribers will be offered free Echo Dots too in the near future.
Linking your free Spotify account and setting the service as a default on an Echo or Echo Dot is as simple and straightforward as you imagine, with your detailed instructions available at this link here.
Meanwhile, if you're the proud owner of a high-quality Bose Home Speaker 300, Home Speaker 450, Home Speaker 500, Portable Home Speaker, Soundbar 500, or Soundbar 700, you'll need to follow a set of even simpler instructions after updating your Spotify Connect or Bose Music app to the latest version to be able to stream and control your tunes over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi without spending a dime this holiday season.
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