Spotify cracks down on Family plan sharing – as Goldman Sachs estimates ‘meaningful share’ of users are ‘friends sharing a plan to reduce costs’

Spotify is asking some Premium Family members to scan a QR code in person with their plan manager to verify they live together. The change could push people who share plans across households towards separate subscriptions, reflecting a wider effort by music services to enforce household rules and increase revenue.

Members have seven days to complete the check; those who miss it or fail verification cannot join another Family or Duo plan for 12 months, according to Spotify’s support page. Goldman Sachs estimated that a “meaningful share” of family-plan users are friends sharing to cut costs, and said services could tighten checks without significantly reducing demand. Spotify already verifies addresses in some cases, but its guidance does not clarify whether QR-check failures lose their current plan, and its Duo support page did not mention the new check.