Spotify Student Discount: Everything to Know

Just what did people do before Spotify? Despite the name, Spotify has become something of a phenomenon. Never before has so much music been available for so little. Well, legally anyway. As younger users are the core of their audience, Spotify offers a discount for students. It is cunningly named the Spotify Student Discount.

Instead of the usual $9.99, students who attend a registered college or educational facility within the United States get a monthly subscription for $4.99. To qualify, you must be using the U.S. version of Spotify, use a college email address to register for an account and enter a U.S. address and billing details.

With enough music on tap to get you through any degree, term paper, late night study session or warmup for a night out, Spotify could technically be regarded as a study aid. I know I would have loved to have had it when I was at college. It would have saved a lot of shelf space and having to carry a couple of boxes of CDs around for four years!

Spotify free is a good service but is full of ads. While the music is still there, nobody wants inane marketing messages between tracks. Considering just how much music is available and the low cost of a premium subscription, it pays to pay. If you can get all that for half what normal people have to pay, all the better as it means more money for pizza.

So here’s how to get that discount.

Get the Spotify Student Discount

Applying for the Spotify Student Discount is simple.

Visit the Spotify website. The site should automatically detect where you live.
Click the Premium link anywhere on the main page.
Scroll down the screen until you see Student Discount. Click the Learn More link beside it.
Click Get Premium and follow the login process. Remember to use your college email address to register otherwise you won’t qualify for the Student Discount.
Fill in the billing screen and make sure you have a U.S. billing address.

Once complete and your billing details have been verified, your premium subscription will begin and you get to enjoy Spotify without the ads. If you decide it’s not for you, it is simple to cancel but visiting your account page.

Points to note about the Spotify Student Discount

There are a couple of differences between standard subscription and discounted student subscription. They are minor but they might catch you out.

Subscriptions need to be refreshed annually and will last a maximum of four years. You need to check each year you’re at college otherwise you could end up paying the usual rate. Plus, if you’re staying on at college longer than four years, you’ll have to pay full rate after the Student Discount expires.

The final note about Spotify is that having over 20 million tracks on tap everywhere you go is addicting. Once you pay for premium, you can reasonably expect to continue paying for premium for the foreseeable future.