One of the noticeable major differences between the premium and free version of Spotify is that its free version contains advertisements. Whilst free users can bunk few of these, sometimes they are bound to bear to a certain amount. Through a recent report via The Verge; Spotify is trying out testing a new version of this popular music version that will user in skipping as many adverts as they wish to skip. It has started a test for selecting users in Australia that allows the listeners to skip any video or audio ads as often as they want, while coming across one. Lately, for the users who aren’t paying for the Spotify Premium subscription, end up listening to ads without being able to bunk them.
However, the feature is currently available only in Australia. The head of the partner solutions; Danielle Lee, stated that unlimited skipping of ads is something the company is interested in, as it will enable users to watch or hear only selected ads they want to. This is why; Spotify is learning which ads the users are interested in hearing. The data collected by monitoring the ads that the user skips could eventually help in personalizing the advertisements, which it delivers to any of the given users by improving the overall experience. This would ultimately be beneficial to both the advertisers and the users. From the users’ side, the ability to skip ads they aren’t interested in will help them get back to the music without any pause that too without paying. And for advertisers; the data by gathered by Spotify on user’s preference may help in ensuring brands to target exact users with those ads that are proportionate to their interests.
When reached out; a spokesperson told that they have launched an “Active Media,” with skipping video and audio facility in Australia for the time being and will consider stretching it to the additional markets in coming future. They are committed to their freemium model and will continue to create their products ensuring the best experience on both premium and free tiers.