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About this video
"There are certainly ways, over time, to find holes around it." Spotify's co-CEO, on the new check.
Would you pass the scan?
Sources:
- Spotify is cracking down on Family plans again, and the penalty can lock you out for a year - Digital Trends: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/spotify-is-cracking-down-on-family-plans-again-and-the-penalty-can-lock-you-out-for-a-year
- Spotify now checks that family plan members share one ...: https://www.threads.com/@poseidanai/post/DeukLrXjPJl/spotify-now-checks-that-family-plan-members-share-one-address-qr-code-refreshes
- Spotify Family Plan sharing faces a major shake-up as users risk losing Premium over household checks - PRIMETIMER: https://www.primetimer.com/news/spotify-family-plan-sharing-faces-a-major-shake-up-as-users-risk-losing-premium-over-household-checks
- Address and verification for Family plan (Spotify Support): https://support.spotify.com/us/article/family-address-verification/
- Spotify confirms Family Plan crackdown, but calls it a ‘routine improvement’: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/spotify-confirms-family-plan-crackdown-but-calls-it-a-routine-improvement/
Photos and footage (Wikimedia Commons, used under their free licences):
- Spotify App Logo: Spotify, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spotify_App_Logo.svg)
- Wikipedia homepage on a large Android phone, 2015-04-16: Sage Ross, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_homepage_on_a_large_Android_phone,_2015-04-16.jpg)
- Spotify HK Stockholm: Goombah, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spotify_HK_Stockholm.jpg)
- Disconnect - Shortfilm on Social Media: Yoghurt Man, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disconnect_-_Shortfilm_on_Social_Media.webm)
Music: Digital Lemonade by Kevin MacLeod, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Digital_Lemonade_(ISRC_USUAN1700010).mp3)
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What the video says
Miss it, and no Family or Duo plan for TWELVE months. Spotify can now check if you actually LIVE with your family. Be honest: your own plan, family at home, or someone far away? Here's how: the plan manager opens a QR code in the app. You scan it with your phone, in person. It changes every few seconds, so a SCREENSHOT won't work. Quick guess: one day, one week, or one month to scan it? It's SEVEN days, according to Spotify's own support page. Miss it, and no Family or Duo plan for TWELVE months. So if you picked C, yeah, this one's about you. Spotify's co-CEO calls it a "routine improvement," not a crackdown. He admits people will find ways around it, over time. For now, only some members are being asked. Honestly? Every streaming app will try this next. If that QR code showed up today, would you pass the scan?