Spotify has 159 million active users, but of those, only 71 million are paid subscribers. The company has recently made moves to go public, so it makes sense for them to have as many paid subscribers as possible, and continue to show growth.
According to TorrentFreak, Spotify now appears to be cracking down on free users that are taking advantage of hacked apps in order to remove the restrictions of unpaid accounts. So far, the company hasn’t put much effort into policing the actions of those that are pirating its services. Basically, users sign up for a free account, then download a modified Spotify installation file. The modified file allows them to access the premium service without having to pay for it.
Over the last few days, however, Spotify has been sending out emails to unpaid accounts taking advantage of the modified software. TorrentFreak managed to get a copy of the email, which can be seen below.
In the email, Spotify says, “If we detect repeated use of unauthorized apps in violation of our terms, we reserve all rights, including suspending or terminating your account.” This basically tells us that Spotify is not playing around with those who take advantage of the service using pirated accounts. TorrentFreak reports that it reached out to some users with free accounts that are taking advantage of the hack. Apparently, some users report they haven’t received the email, while other users have said their modified apps are no longer working. This is an indication that Spotify is actively working to find users that are taking advantage of the service in the wrong ways.
