With music streaming services like Spotify, it is under the assumption that its users have access to a reliable internet connection to stream songs from the platform. For the most part, this would be true otherwise why would you sign up for a streaming service if you don’t have an internet connection, right?
However, there are times when we might not have access to the internet, like when we’re on a plane, or traveling to areas with little coverage, or traveling overseas and we don’t have a local SIM card. Does this mean that it would be useless to use services like Spotify? Hardly, because that’s where offline listening comes in handy.
How To Download Spotify Songs, Albums, And Playlists
One of the features of Spotify is the ability to allow users to listen to songs without an internet connection. However, there are some differences between offline listening on the desktop and on mobile, where on the desktop users will be limited to just playlists and podcasts, while mobile devices can download entire albums. Presumably this is to help combat piracy, but it should be taken note of anyway.
Desktop
- Launch the Spotify program
- Go to the playlist or podcast you wish to download
- Toggle on Download
- If you see a green arrow next to it, that means your download was successful and you should now be able to listen to Spotify without an internet connection on your computer.
Mobile
- Launch the Spotify app
- Go to the playlist, album, or podcast that you want to download
- Tap the Download icon (it’s an arrow pointing downwards) or toggle on Download if you’re using Android
- Similar to desktop, upon successfully downloading your music, a green arrow icon should appear.
Limitations
Offline listening sounds like a pretty useful feature, but it isn’t perfect. For starters, you will need to be a Spotify Premium subscriber which means you’ll have to fork out a monthly fee. There are other benefits of being a Premium subscriber, like not having ads and access to on-demand songs and albums, so that might be worth a consideration as well.
Also, you will only be able to download a maximum of 10,000 songs across a max of five different devices, which means that this essentially averages out to 2,000 songs per device, regardless of whether it’s a phone, tablet, or computer. 10,000 songs is actually quite a lot so it does seem pretty fair.
Lastly, Spotify will require users go online at least once every 30 days in order to maintain their downloaded music. If you plan to be offline for an extended period of time, this is something to take note of.
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