Spotify Premium for students launches in Australia

Spotify has today officially launched Spotify Premium for students in Australia, granting them access to the service for half the usual price.

University students in Australia can sign up for Spotify Premium for $5.99 per month each year. The offer is open each year for the duration of a student’s time at university.

They will receive all the benefits that come with being a Premium subscriber including ad-free uninterrupted music, access to over 30 million songs on-demand, online and offline playlists and superior sound quality.

Along with Australia, the streaming giant is launching the program in 32 other countries, taking Spotify’s global student offering to 36 markets.

“We are really excited to launch Spotify Premium for Students all over the world today – now the biggest and best student offer of its kind in the marketplace,” said Alex Norstrom, Spotify’s Chief Premium Business Officer.

“Students are among the most passionate and engaged music fans, and we’re proud to be able to give millions of students the opportunity to soundtrack their lives with Spotify Premium for half price.”

To launch the offering, Spotify has partnered with US eligibility verification company SheerID to implement, administer and support the program.

Globally, students (18-21 years) listen to about 70 percent more hours of music per week than typical users on average.

Drake is the most streamed artist on Spotify among students in Australia, with hit single One Dance ft. WizKid & Kyla Reid the most listened to track on Spotify over the last 12 months. And students are clearly a market with their finger on the pulse:One Dance was also TMN’s #1 single across Australia in 2016. On its second week, after debuting at #79, the track shot to #1 on the Spotify chart where it remained for thirteen weeks.

It’s a canny move by Spotify to, well, solidify their subscriber base; SoundCloud recently launched a mid-priced tierfor its paid subscriptions, and Pandora are trying to snag uncommitted streaming listeners, adding their Premium serviceon top of their long-standing free radio offering.