Music streaming service Spotify goes live in South Africa today. Users can choose from the free or Premium packages. The free service is extremely limited, but users can try the Premium service for 30 days before they’ll be charged the R60/month subscription fee. That’s the same month fee Apple Music, Google Play Music and Deezer charge for their equivalent services. Spotify is also offering new users the option to sign up to Sony’s PlayStation service and get two months of Premium for R12, but the facility isn’t live at time of writing.
New users wanting to take up the PlayStation offer should try that before signing up for the 30-day trial, as if they take the trial they can’t opt for the alternate offer down the line, according to the fine print on the applicable page on Spotify’s website.
Rumours about Spotify launching locally have been doing the rounds for years, but firmed up last year when the company advertised a position focused on South African music. They solidified last week when journalists were invited to a press conference that takes place later today.
The local Spotify site went live on Monday and indicated that the company will only be offering two versions of its service (free and Premium), with the Family subscription offered in many other markets missing from the list of package options. Where that service is offered it allows up to six users to create accounts with a single subscription fee, usually a 50% markup on the Premium service (in the US, for example, a Premium account is $10/month, while a Family account is $15).
We’ll ask at today’s press conference why the Family service isn’t being offered locally and when the PS offer will go live. But in the meantime, if you’ve been curious whether the world’s most popular service is good enough to get you using streaming for music, or you’re wondering if it can pry you away from Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play Music, Tidal or Joox, at least you can take it for an obligation-free spin.
