FAQ: Questions and Answers about Spotify

Question

Hey and welcome to my FAQ. Here answers for most questions.
What connection do I need to use Spotify?
Spotify can use any connection! Mobile broadband, ADSL, cable modem... I recommend 1M connection or faster, however you can use Spotify also in 384 kbps speed or even lower (when on slow mobile networks, just enable lower stream quality).
Does Spotify stream on EDGE (2G, mobile network)?
If you use 160 kbps or lower setting, yes. But keep in mind, network should be near 200 kbps all the time before it's possible without buffering. Recommended 3G and at least 384 kbps mobile speed for 320 kbps.
I have limited internet. How much bandwidth Spotify need?
Spotify use P2P, so no one can answer it right. To eliminate data usage, download tracks to Offline (Premium) and from File or Mobile app settings enable Offline mode. Also you can stream in Mobile with lower sound quality. There is also available Spotify Connect sound machines like Pioneer SMA1 and with these you can play Spotify from your mobile using Connect and that does not use P2P.
Quality 96 kbps => 0.72 MB per minute. (Only in Mobile these days)
Quality 160 kbps => 1.2 MB per minute. (Free, Unlimited, Premium)
Quality 320 kbps => 2.4 MB per minute. (Premium. Desktop, some mobile platforms and some other Spotify devices)
With online streaming you may need a lot bandwidth. But you can also change cache size to 100 GB. This helps keep the network requirements down as it enables more caching. Also this depends on how much you listen music. Try Web Spotify or Mobile Spotify, these don't need P2P for work. Actually these apps doesn't use P2P at all. I hope you enjoy Spotify over your Internet.
How much Mobile data I need to get to stream Spotify full month?
If you have Premium, you can download your music to offline mode, no data used after first download. Offline on home wifi or at library etc. public wifi. If you have Premium and don't want to use Offline or don't have one Premium at all, data usage depends on your Internet connection and Spotify plan/settings. For example if you use Automatical sound quality option in Android app. It selects best quality for music on-the-go depending on network type/speed. Basically your music keeps going even on EDGE network at 96 kbps. If you don't want full sound on the go, keep quality in manual eg. 160 kbps only.
Data usage depends also how much you listen music, basically it is 144 MB in hour at 320 kbps.
Please keep in mind, if you stream online music one hour in day and in month 31 days it will be:
96 kbps: 43 MB in hour, 1339 MB (1.3 GB) in month. Only mobile.
160 kbps: 72 MB in hour, 2232 MB (2.2 GB) in month.
320 kbps: 144 MB in hour, 4464 MB (4.4 GB) in month. Only Premium.
If you listen more than hour, it will be more data usage, or if you listen little - less usage. Please keep in mind also that you just don't use Spotify - you may use YouTube, web surfing etc. too. Actual data usage needs is much higher. If Unlimited data is not possible, I suggest 5-10 GB of data, and if you allowed only 1GB - download music to Offline mode to reduce your data needs to minimum.
How much space I need to Micro-SD for my Offline list?
If you prefer radio edits, it is almost 8.5GB for 1,000 songs. Basically 32 GB is needed if you believe you will be one day near 3,333 tracks limit of Offline mode / device. Big card is also cheaper than little if you look  at price/size value. Please look at your phone specs, what is maximum card size supported by your phone. In most phones it is 32 GB.
How to improve playback on Android when outside using mobile network as Internet?
That's great question. Go to Android, open Spotify, hit Settings and select for Online play quality Automatical. This option chooses best possible sound quality for the time and area you are in. If a bit slower 3G, or even parts in EDGE, playback will be less interrupted. Spotify uses for a while 160 kbps or even 96 kbps, when for 320 kbps no speed available at this time on mobile network. Sadly on GPRS this won't work as it is only 56 kbps network.
How I can listen music? I created account and there is no search box in site to search music?
You need to download desktop app before you can listen music from www.spotify.com/download or just use web player https://play.spotify.com/. If you are Premium customer, you can use it also for example in Mobile, in some Spotify Connect speakers, in some smart-tv's etc. Please look into your device advertisements or Spotify site/forum to know which devices support Premium.
How in the earth I can use Spotify outside my country?
You need paid subscription to do this, then you can use Spotify without trouble just as long as you pay for it. However keep in mind that you may not be able to renew subscription in new country, so ensure you have enough months. In Free travelling time is limited to 2 weeks.
How I can delete duplicates from my playlists?
The official tool is under consideration. Before this just use my guide.
How I can check a bitrate of Spotify songs?
There is no official tool or guide from Spotify for this, however I created one guide for you. Come this way.
Where I can reset my password?
Go to Password reset page.
How I connect or disconnect to/from Facebook?
Go to Edit - Preferences in Spotify.
How I clean Spotify cache?
Go to Edit - Preferences and check folder location, then copy and paste it in My Computer.
How Spotify use my internet connection?
Spotify is a P2P software. You download those tracks from P2P network, your cache or Spotify servers. Spotify also can share your cache with Spotify users using your interet connection.
Picture:
Spotify uses my Unlimited 3G max. 21M mobile connection. I listen music with empty cache.
What customer service? They just answered to me and asked to go to Community to search answer. Really?
Hey there, sorry about this, this is automatical response. Response is good for some simple questions answered already in Community, however sometimes system will not recognise your question. Just click in your mail "Reply" and ask question another time, then real people contact you.
How I disable P2P from Spotify?
You can't do this. Spotify is cheap to you, so you help Spotify with server costs. Only Spotify Mobile, Spotify for Smart-TV, Spotify Web, Spotify for some speakers can download tracks from Spotify servers without P2P.
Where is artist or band I like?
Good question! Spotify always want to have all music in it's catalogue. But some artists, bands or record labels want to be out of Spotify. I hope that they change their mind! Also you can add missed puzzles as Local files to Spotify.
My music flapping or skips on my laptop!
Don't worry. Just go to Edit - Preferences and disable the hardware acceleration. Also you can try completely re-install of Spotify. Hope this helps!
My music is often stopping or buffering all the time on my mobile phone. Help me!
Don't worry. If you use mobile network, ensure with your teleoperator that speed is at least 384 kbps. Unlimited is better. If you are using slow mobile internet, changing play quality in settings to low might help you. If you are at home, try Wifi, as usually Wifi is much faster than these mobile networks. If you are in poor mobile coverage area, try to find better coverage area. Hope this helps! If this problem is all the time, maybe you want to download playlist for Offline use? Then no need for Internet at all!
The song or artist is misspelled! And I found poor quality tracks on Spotify! What do I do?
Contact to Spotify and report all those errors via Contact form. Hopefully in future Spotify can improve reporting system.
Why Spotify send/not send my listened tracks to Facebook?
Check your sharing settings in Spotify's Preferences.
Why Spotify is not working after delete or de-activate of Facebook account?
If your account is created with Facebook details, you need Facebook to be able to login into Spotify. If you are deleted Facebook or don't want Facebook anymore, just create another account using email adress and ask Spotify to transfer playlist over using Contact form!
How I delete my account completely?
Contact to Spotify Support. Come this way.
I have idea, how I share it?
Just add topic to Idea community. Come this way.
My playlists or starred tracks are gone! What do I do?
Just let Spotify know. Spotify can put them back to your account in no time, just contact to Support and add information like your problem with Spotify and your username. Come this way. Before that, try to recover playlists itself here.
How I delete tracks from Library? Delete button is greyed out!
Awesome question. Just locate track from playlists, locals or starred tracks and delete it.
Why I should subscribe to playlists?
Spotify is social! Just subscribe to playlists you like and sit down - music entertain you. Millions of playlists waiting you. Just Google, browse playlist sites or search those with Spotify in search bar. If you do not like playlist anymore, you can unsubscribe. Your choice.
Who the heck delete songs from my playlist? Where deleted songs are sitting?
Do not worry! Sometimes Spotify just hide songs that are unavailable these days. Those songs can be released again in your country for example in future. You can see all hided tracks - just go to Edit - Settings and untick Hide unplayable tracks.
Purchased Unlimited or Premium today. Still I can hear ads and Free service. Joke? Scam? Cheat?
Not. Absolutely not. You can fix this in no time. Just go to File then click Log out and then Log in again. And yay, your paid service is waiting you. Also check that you are log in with right account. You can also contact Customer Service via Contact form. Come this way.
Purchased Premium, still the same sound. You advertised 320 kbps!
Do not worry. Just go to Edit - Preferences end enable High quality sound. After this clean the Spotify cache.
What format Spotify use and how music is converted?
Spotify use a OGG format. OGG is very great format with rich sound. In Premium sound quality is 320 kbps (excluding currently Spotify Mobile, where quality is 160 kbps or 96 kbps) and in Free/Unlimited quality is160 kbps. All tracks are converted from lossless format. And 99,9% of Premium catalogue is in 320 kbps quality.
I want to talk with real person, support number?
Spotify do not use support number. Here is two awesome way for Support - Support Community here and Contact form here. If you want to use Contact form, come this way. Spotify does not use bots, real people is answering to you.
I need more privacy. I still listen Britney Spears etc. How I can hide top tracks and top artists in my Spotify profile?
Yes, you can hide those. You can also hide Starred tracks and Playlists too! If you need privacy, Spotify provide tools for it. Just go to Edit - Preferences and untick all options: Automatically publish new playlists, Top tracks and Top artists. Privacy is here. And if you want to hide Starred or any Playlist you have - just right-click a Starred or any Playlist in Sidebar of Spotify and click Publish. Then you can go to your nice profile and them all are gone!
Is Spotify legal?
Absolutely. Spotify has agreements with record labels. Anyone listening in Spotify give money for artists, record labels and composers. So if you use Spotify, you can continue to use it. Legal and awesome service. Every track you listen is legal and Spotify keep statistics for payment to right holders - even when you are Offline with Spotify!
Spotify client is downloading my Local files to it's servers?
No, not ever. Local files are just for you, Spofy does not collect or download those tracks.
Can I listen my Local files and artist get paid by Spotify?
No. Spotify does not pay to right holders when you listen Local files which are not in Spotify.
I am Spotify Free user, why ads or skip limits on mobile?
It's simple. You hear ads and have skip limits and Spotify is free for you this way. Also Spotify pay for right holders using ads revenue when you are Free user. If you do not like ads or want nonstop music, why not to subscribe for Unlimited or Premium service?
How Spotify will know I use tablet and let me then listen without skip limits and shuffle (Free)?
Your tablet is tablet for Spotify if screen size is more than 7".
Why Spotify is playing tracks that are not in my playlist when I use mobile phone and Free service?
This is how Spotify is designed to play for free users. You can listen your playlist on Shuffle and in time you will get some track suggestions, these can't be removed from Play Queue, but you may be able to skip these if you have enough skips to do it in hour. Also in mobile you may see ads and hear these also.
I have Spotify Connect enabled on my device and Pioneer SMA1 or other sound machine with Connect. What is quality used?
This depends on settings of your device. If in Spotify settings 320 kbps Extreme is enabled, your lovely sound machine will stream at 320 kbps using Connect. It depends on Stream quality, not Download quality. If you want to reduce data usage also in your speaker, just change it (sound quality) :)
I'm unsure will Spotify Connect drain my battery and does Pioneer SMA1 or other sound machine with Connect stream using my phone mobile data plan?
Absolutely not. The Spotify Connect is huge thing. You can listen music using Spotify Connect speakers like Pioneer SMA1 and totally without need to stream using your phone mobile network. The sound speaker can be connected to your wired Internet (in my home with RJ45 to cable modem 100M/5M). You can also use Wifi in some speakers, but RJ45 is preferred as it's more stable :) Actually after you connect your Spotify in phone to speaker, you can start playlist and then forget about it. Or even shut down your phone, your speaker continues to play! Also in future you can add tracks to play queue if you want and these will keep playing for you. Connect also will be available as remote to your PC, you can then remote your Desktop Spotify using your phone :)
Can I listen Spotify music with my own music player?
No. Why? This is simple. Spotify use a protected files, so music player like iTunes or WMP can not read those as music files. Only Spotify can understand those files. Also you need to use Spotify, because only this way Spotify can pay for right holders.
Can I make a CD from Spotify music?
No. Why? Spotify does not allow you to burn CD when you streaming music. If you want a CD, just purchase it form Spotify and burn a CD with iTunes etc. music player. Of course you can download with Premium your music to Mobile and connect your phone to your sound system and you can start your party then!
Can I download tracks from Spotify with my monthly fee?
No. Spotify works in this way: you purchase a way to rent music. In Free you can rent music as long as you are Free user. In Unlimited or Premium you can use all it's features as long as you pay. When you stop paying for service, your account will be Free again. For example you start hearing ads and your Premium Offline playlists will be removed. In Fact in Spotify you can stream with your month fee as much as you want. In Free service listen time may be limited.
I'm unable to cancel my subscription. Spotify decline my password. Help me!
Do not panic! All you need is to try another Internet browser like Firefox, IE or Chrome. Also you can try log out first from Facebook and try then again. Spotify will miss you if you go. You are welcome back at any time.
Purchased Premium, not hearing advertised better sound quality.
Make sure you are using a high quality in Spotify's desktop app Settings. Also in some mobiles you can use this 320kbps mode advertised Extreme, so make sure you're enabled it. If after that quality is still bad, clear cache and try again! Also it may worth to try setup with another stereo system etc. I hope you enjoy Premium sound quality!
My question not here.
Not a problem. Ask and Spotify community can help you ASAP.
[ This post reached maximum level of allowed text, so it will be not updated anymore very often, unless I find a way to extend this post. ]

Answer 1

Someone asked me will Spotify work on EDGE mobile network in 160 kbps mode.
I will explain some things out.
EDGE network is very slow and actually EDGE is for light internet usage. However some operators, like Elisa Oyj in Finland, can handle 200 kbps in EDGE. If so, you can use 160 kbps Spotify without any problems. But keep in mind, some networks may be slow in EDGE and speed may be lower - in this case just use 96 kbps sound quality.
Personally I would suggest 384 kbps or faster Mobile Internet. Because when you use 320 kbps in mobile, EDGE network isn't enough to handle Extreme quality. The Unlimited is good, but you should be fine with 1GB, just stream then 96 kbps or 160 kbps. I use 0.5M Unlimited 3G Internet and I can say it works like a charm with Extreme sound quality.
If in your country no way for Unlimited,  you always can download Spotify playlists to Offline mode with your wifi. But I would say there is no need to fast 3G internet like max. 21M packages - Spotify will work fine with 384 kbps in any sound quality and in slow network too. However in this case you might want to use lower sound quality.
Also remember if you use Unlimited or Free and there no plans to Premium, just ignore those. Free and Unlimited use only 160 kbps and no Mobile or 320 kbps support, so you will be fine with 256 kbps Internet. Personally I suggest to everyone 8M/1M Internet for Home use and to Mobile use something like 0.5M or 1M.