In this comprehensive 2500+ word guide, you‘ll learn step-by-step how to fully delete your Spotify account.
I‘ll provide detailed instructions for both free and premium Spotify subscribers, outline the main reasons for account deletion, key usage statistics, and expert advice for alternatives. My goal is to equip you with everything you need to permanently remove your Spotify profile.
Here‘s a quick overview of what I‘ll cover:
- The pros and cons of deleting your Spotify account forever
- Simple step-by-step walkthroughs tailored to free or paid subscribers
- Explanations for the most common reasons people delete Spotify
- Relevant Spotify user statistics for context
- expert comparison of free vs. premium plan features
- Additional streaming music platforms to switch to
- My personal recommendations as an experienced tech specialist
Let‘s get started!
Should You Delete Your Spotify Account?
Before immediately deleting, let‘s weigh the potential upsides and downsides of removing your Spotify profile completely.
Benefits include:
- No longer paying expensive monthly premium fees
- Eliminating irritation from constant advertising interrupts
- Moving to competing services with better sound quality
- Reducing significant mobile data usage from streaming
- Making ethical stands against objectionable content
However, you‘d also lose:
- Playlists, libraries and listening histories representing hours of curation
- Followers and community connections through shared music
- Personalized Spotify recommendations fine-tuned by your tastes
- Convenience and comfort of existing listening routines
This table compares free and paid Spotify plans across key attributes:
| Feature | Free Plan | Premium Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Price | $0 | $9.99 |
| Audio Quality | Up to 160 kbps | Up to 320 kbps |
| Offline Listening | ❌ | ✅ |
| On-Demand Playback | ❌ | ✅ |
| Ad Frequency | Multiple/hour | No ads |
| Track Skipping | 6 skips/hour | Unlimited |
Premium clearly delivers significant upgrades – but at a literal cost through expensive subscription fees.
Over 71 million Spotify users are students receiving discounted $4.99 monthly rates after verifying eligibility with a .edu email address. However, many still seek alternative platforms based on ethical objections related to certain content or resource usage concerns.
Now let‘s get into actually deleting your Spotify account if you‘ve decided to move on for good…
Step-by-Step Guide to Delete Any Spotify Account
Quitting Spotify only requires 5 minutes if you follow my specific step-by-step walkthroughs below tailored to both free and premium account holders.
Let‘s start with free accounts:
How to Delete a Free Spotify Account
- Pull up Spotify‘s website on your Mac or Windows PC
- Click your profile picture at the top right and choose Account from the menu
- Under the "Don‘t Have Premium?" section, click blue Close Account button
- On next page detailing permanent removal of playlists/data, click Continue then Close Account to confirm
- Open Close Account email from Spotify and select confirmation link to finalize closure
At this point after finishing Step 5, your Spotify association will be terminated but your account and data will technically persist for 7 additional days in a deactivated state in case you change your mind.
If those 7 days after initially requesting closure pass without reversing course, deletion of follower counts, music libraries and all other saved Spotify account details will proceed to completion automatically.
Re-signing up under the same username going forward also becomes impossible at that stage. Keep reading below for killing off premium accounts as well.
How to Delete a Spotify Premium Account
Before fully deleting a paid Spotify Premium profile including closure email confirmation, subscribers must firstly cancel recurring monthly charges by:
- Visiting account.spotify.com and logging in
- Clicking Subscription from sidebar menu under Your Plan
- Selecting Change Plan followed by Cancel Premium termination
- Verifying cancellation on next confirmation prompt
Now exit your paid relationship with Spotify! Those extra steps convert your membership status to free-tier first prior to eliminating your account completely in the typical manner already outlined earlier above.
You‘ll forfeit the same followers/music data/playlists either way – this just severs monetary billing beforehand if currently paying out recurring fees.
Hopefully you‘ve got clarity on decisively shutting the door on your Spotify story. Next let‘s analyze wider industry statistics around their dominance plus ethical concerns driving account terminations.
Key Statistics on Spotify‘s Market Position
While Spotify remains top streaming dog, competitors keep charging hard. Relevant numbers to consider when comparing platforms:
| Metric | Totals |
|---|---|
| Spotify Monthly Active Users | 422 million (2022) |
| Spotify Paying Subscribers | 183 million (2022) |
| Apple Music Paying Subscribers | 78 million (2022) |
| Spotify‘s Ad-Supported User Base | 59% (Estimated) |
| Spotify Student Discounted Premium Subscribers | 71 million (2022) |
| Spotify‘s Artist Payout Per Stream | $0.003 to $0.005 (Varies) |
Beyond financial performance, Spotify created controversy regarding certain hosted content like Joe Rogan‘s podcast conveying COVID-19 misinformation to millions – leading artists like Neil Young removing their catalogs.
These ethical concerns spark many followers and casual listeners to investigate deleting their accounts as well in protest against such programming.
In statements following the backlash, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek supported the principles of creator expression on his open platform within acceptable rules…but significant public damage resulted regardless to perception and subscriptions.
Now staying mindful of Spotify‘s strengths while objectively acknowledging areas for improvement – what are the best alternatives as you search for a new streaming home after abandonment?
Top Alternative Music Streaming Platforms
If your Spotify farewell is permanent, where should you turn next for satisfying your audio entertainment needs? Here are expert-recommended options:
🍎 Apple Music
As tech giant Apple‘s streaming solution boasting over 78 million paid subscribers currently, Apple Music shines with premium sound quality, expansive device integration, and a clean ad-free interface – albeit at the same $9.99 monthly cost as Spotify. Still it‘s worth your audition.
🎧 Pandora
Veteran Pandora operates both free ad-supported and premium subscription tiers. Known best for personalized stations based on favorite artists/tracks delivering a lean-back curated experience. Thumbs up/down feedback over time leads Pandora algorithms to precisely tailor recommendations.
🎶 YouTube Music
Google‘s music platform allowing both video and audio streaming. At just $9.99 for premium too, it combines vast catalogs with unlimited ad-free access across devices. Seamlessly transfer Spotify playlists while benefitting from Google‘s technological backbone.
🎵 Amazon Music Unlimited
For Prime subscribers, Amazon Music presents a worthy Spotify alternative at just $7.99 monthly. While lagging competitors in some features, Amazon allows downloading up to 10,000 songs locally and delivers cleanly organized libraries perfect for impatient types.
Weigh both strengths and downsides across these Spotify replacements pursuing the best match for your listening desires, budgets and device ecosystems already in place. There‘s fantastic options to rediscover joy in music streaming!
Final Words of Wisdom
In closing, I applaud your willingness to take ownership of decisions related to financial commitments, personal data usage and ethical alignments regarding entertainment. Hopefully my guide presented comprehensive details on fully deleting your Spotify account while highlighting excellent streaming music alternatives ready to welcome you into vibrant new listening communities.
While change brings its own uncertainty, embracing new opportunities matching your values moves life forward into greater fulfillment. I‘m happy to offer any other advice as a trusted technology advisor so please reach out in the future as needed while enjoying your fresh streaming start!
