Long gone are the days when music lovers had to buy records or CDs to listen to their tunes - or, even stream their songs through old copyright-challenged sites like Napster. And the service's popularity seems to be growing. In fact, the streaming company amassed some 96 million Spotify Premium subscribers as of the last quarter of , according to Statista. But considering the service is gaining so many users, how much does Spotify Premium actually cost? The standard Spotify Premium membership includes an ad-supported subscription to video streaming service Hulu , while the student subscription includes subscriptions to both Hulu and fellow streaming service Showtime. The standard Spotify Premium subscription includes unlimited streaming, downloading music, unlimited skips, an ad-supported Hulu subscription and the ability to cancel at any time.

How to pay for Spotify Premium in the iOS app
How Spotify compares to the competition
Unlike Apple Music , Spotify offers a free, ad-supported version of its service, which poses the question: Should you pay to listen? The biggest reason to upgrade if you use Spotify's mobile app on your phone is the ability to play any song you want. With the free version, you're forced to listen in shuffle mode on your phone outside of 15 on-demand playlists. Spotify's free service does not restrict you to shuffle-only mode, it should be noted, when you're using the desktop or tablet app. You can skip only so many songs when listening to a shuffled selection of songs with Spotify's free service. With Premium, you can skip as many songs as you deem necessary. Spotify Free lets you listen at normal 96 kilobits per second or high quality Kbps. Spotify Premium adds Extreme quality streaming at Kbps, which can make for better, more detailed audio output if you use high-end headphones or speakers. Want to jam out on the morning commute when you're squished into a subway car in a tunnel where there's no cell service? Spotify Premium lets you download up to 10, songs so you can listen when you're away from the internet or just want to cut down on your data usage.
What You Get With Spotify Premium
Have a Spotify Free user account? Spotify calls people who sign up to its free service users. Anyone who signs up for Spotify Unlimited or Premium is no longer a mere user; she becomes a subscriber. Welcome to the club.
With unlimited skips, free downloads, offline listening, and plenty of other features, upgrading to the premium version has plenty of incentives. Not to mention, premium accounts are also completely ad-free. Instead, you need to shuffle an artist, album, genre, or playlist. Curated playlists and offline listening are also unavailable, as is Radio.