Remember when subscription services not only didn’t mind, but actively encouraged sharing it with friends and family? Then along came Netflix to rain on that parade, disallowing password sharing without first coughing up a few extra bucks per month. Costlier family plans became the new norm, but now you’re even doing that wrong. In Spotify’s eyes, anyway. The streamer is cracking down on Family Plan sharing, and it’s mighty annoying.
Spotify’s Family Plan costs R120/m in South Africa, after the streamer raised prices in August 2025. It has seemingly been discontinued for new subscribers, however. The site currently only offers three tiers: Premium Standard, Premium Platinum, and Premium Student. It has likely joined the old ‘Duo’ plan as a legacy tier.
Tough times ahead for Spotify Family members
While Spotify appears to be cracking down specifically on the Family Plan (which allows for six individual accounts all living at the same address), it’s setting a nasty precedent for its other multiple-account plans. In South Africa, that’d be the Premium Platinum tier for R180/m, which includes up to three individual accounts.
On a Spotify support page, it mentions that Family Plan members may need to “verify they live with the plan manager by scanning a QR code.” If you reside with the primary account holder, that’s not an issue. But for the family members who live elsewhere or are travelling… sticking around on the plan is about to get much harder.
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QR code verification isn’t anything new. But Spotify’s found a way to make it nearly impossible to verify without being in the same room as the main member. As Reddit points out, the code is dynamic and changes every couple of seconds, meaning that verification over WhatsApp or similar is out of the question. When a user is asked to verify their membership via QR code, they’ve got seven days to make it happen, or risk being kicked out for good.
Worse than that, members who can’t prove they reside at the same address as the main member will be unable to join a Duo or Family Plan for the next twelve months. Spotify isn’t risking losing out on a potential customer, though, and still allows banned Family accounts to pick up their own individual subscription. Go figure.
