Spotify is introducing a new check for Premium Family users: some plan members are being asked to prove they live with the person who manages it by scanning a QR code. The verification is described on the company’s official support page and has real consequences for anyone who doesn’t complete it.
How the verification works
The process requires the two people to be in the same place. The plan manager opens the QR code in the mobile app: tap your profile picture, then “Your Premium” and then “Manage”. The plan member scans the code with their smartphone camera once the Spotify notification appears.
The code changes every few seconds, so a screenshot sent over chat won’t do. The procedure only works from the smartphone app, not from desktop. According to 9to5Google, some Reddit users claim to have got round the check using several devices and a video call, but these are users’ accounts, not something Spotify has confirmed.
Seven days to comply and a one-year ban
The deadline is the most delicate point. From the moment the request arrives, the member has 7 days to complete the scan. If they don’t, or if the verification fails, two things happen:
- they cannot join another Family or Duo plan for 12 months;
- they can still choose another type of subscription, such as Individual; otherwise they move to the free version.
For anyone having trouble with the scan, Spotify advises updating the app on both phones, checking that the date and time are correct and reopening the application.
Not the only check
The scan sits alongside address verification, which the service already requires. Members must provide their full address when they join the plan, when the manager moves house or when Spotify cannot confirm the details. In that case an email arrives and, again, there are 7 days to respond. If the verification fails, access to the Family plan is lost; it is possible to rejoin the same plan, but not a different one for a year. Spotify states that it does not track location and uses the address only for this check.
The plan’s terms of use require members to live at the same address. The new step, then, doesn’t change the rule: it makes it easier to enforce.
What it means for people using the plan in Italy
Spotify says the request may reach some members, not all of them: there is no public list of who is chosen and no rollout date. In the texts we have read, the company has not announced specific timing for Italy, and we cannot say how many Italian subscribers will be affected.
The practical advice is simple. If you share the plan with people who don’t live with you, such as friends, relatives in another city or a child studying away from home, it is worth considering an individual subscription or a Duo plan for each of them in good time, rather than waiting for the notification. Those who genuinely live with the plan manager just need to remember that the scan requires physical presence: with a week’s margin, it’s best not to leave the notification ignored.
What we think
From Spotify’s point of view the move is understandable: the Family plan costs less per person precisely because it presupposes a family, and wider sharing erodes revenue. A constantly refreshing code is also less intrusive than geolocation, which would have raised more privacy concerns.
There is still a cost for users who play by the rules. Those who live together but aren’t physically in the same place that week, for work or study for example, risk losing their place in the plan and being shut out of any other Family plan for a year. Seven days is not much if the notification lands during a trip. A longer deadline, or the chance to ask for an extension, would make the system fairer.
Other platforms handle it differently: a comment quoted by 9to5Google notes that Apple Family does not require a shared residence. The difference in approach could weigh on people choosing a music service for the family, and we’ll come back to it if official details on Italy emerge.
If you use Spotify for other things too, we’ve explained how to turn off videos in the app and how Spotify works on Apple Watch.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
