Spotify confirmed reports of its crackdown on Family Plan sharing during its third-quarter call with investors, calling its new method “a routine improvement” to its existing verification tools.
Over the past few days, reports have surfaced indicating that Spotify is rolling out a “QR Code Verification” method, where the app will ask members on their family plan to verify that they’ve lived with the plan manager by scanning a QR code. This code appears on the plan manager’s phone, which the plan member must then scan with their own phone, according to Spotify support documentation.
Plan members have seven days to complete the QR code after receiving a notification, which means they may not be happy if they live outside the home and don’t plan a return visit soon. If the verification window is missed, they may not be able to join another family or duo plan for 12 months, but must instead switch to an individual plan that they pay for themselves.
The move is intended to boost subscriptions to Spotify’s profitable premium plans, rather than allowing adult children or friends who live apart from the player to get a cheaper plan by splitting a Family Plan subscription.
During the earnings call, an investor asked a question about the power and what it means, but Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström downplayed the change, calling it a “routine improvement,” not a “crackdown.”
“Family Plan has existed for a long time. It’s been around, I think it’s now close to 12, 13 years in Spotify’s history, and it makes up a fairly large proportion of our subscriber base,” said Norström. “As such, it’s important for us to just make sure over time that we improve the verification methods that we have. There are certainly ways, over time, to find loopholes around it. As that happens, we’ll figure out how to improve it over time,” he added.
The executive said that the company’s attempt to better verify its users is not something that has an end date or will ever be complete, but is considered an ongoing routine improvement.
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