Spotify Might Offer Subscriber-Only Content

The streaming music wars continue to wage on and Spotify may be changing things up to get more people to subscribe. According to Digital Music News, Spotify is preparing to shifit towards a premium-only, "gated access" model which means that certain releases will either be available only to paying subscribers and/or available for a limited time to non-paying users. While nothing has been set in stone yet, Digital Music News' sources say that free users would only have access to one or two songs from a high-profile album and paying subscribers could listen to the entire release with no restriction.

"They want free users to feel like they're missing something, not just forced to listen to adds," says a source.

According to reports, Spotify has to renew its licensing deals with major record labels on Oct.1, meaning a premium-only transition would likely occur in early 2016. Sources close to the negotiations have told Digital Music News that Spotify has not signed a new deal with any of the major labels yet.

The outlet also says that the move towards a "gated" service was previously unthinkable among the suits at Spotify. However, with major labels becoming more and more upset with free services, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek may be forced to change the way his service operates. "[Spotify CEO Daniel] Ek hates that idea," said another source. "And I mean hates it, but he may have to give an inch on that one."