Spotify no longer requires a Facebook account

UPDATE:

You can now sign-up to Spotify without the need for a Facebook account, after Spotify quietly changed its registration page.

The streaming music service had come under criticism when its partnership with Facebook made it impossible for new users to sign-up for Spotify without a Facebook login.

Spotify has now reversed that decision, made in September 2011, by allowing people to simply sign-up with an email address.

Just under a year on, it seems Spotify wants to ever-so slightly loosen its tie-in with Facebook.

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Published 27.09.11

Spotify continues to make the headlines, and there's good and potentially bad news for people thinking of starting a new account.

Firstly, new users who opt for the free service can now get six months of Spotify without the usage caps previously placed on free members.

Previously, Spotify Open (the free service) subscribers could only listen for 10 hours a month and were limited to five plays per track.

This option, now simply known as Spotify, now comes with six months free usage. If you signed up within the last six months, you should be given a similar bonus until your account is six months old.

After this six months, your account will revert to having limits on your listening - unless of course you pay £5/month for Spotify Unlimited or £10/month for Spotify Premium.

However, after becoming "better friends with Facebook" last week, Spotify has confirmed new users must have a Facebook account in order to use Spotify.

While you can turn-off Facebook's link to Spotify once you've signed up, it will no doubt alienate some potential users who don't want to have a Facebook account in order to try Spotify.

Daniel Ek, CEO and founder of Spotify, confirmed the move on Twitter, saying, "We want to remove [the] barrier to sign-up and create a more seamless experience. As we think our users are social."

However he did admit that they could change the policy if the response was negative: "We'll try lots of things, and probably screw up from time to time, but we value feedback and will make changes based on it."

Let us know what you think of the changes in the comments section below.

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Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).