Spotify Trials Premium Duo Subscription Music Plan For Couples, Roommates

Good news, music lovers—Spotify is testing a streaming music subscription plan for couples, roommates, best friends, and any other package of two that you can think of (so long as they share the same address). The discounted plan essentially means that a couple does not have to choose between sharing a single plan or shelling out for a family plan, which allows up to five people under the same roof to have their own account.

That's the good news. The bad news is, the new Premium Duo tier is only being tested in select areas at the moment, and specifically Chili, Columbia, Denmark, Ireland, and Poland.

If you happen to live in one of those areas, though, the Premium Duo subscription runs €12.49 per month. A regular Premium plan (for a single person) costs €9.99 per month, while the Premium Family tier runs €14.99 per month. So, Spotify is splitting the difference between a single-person plan a five-person Family plan.

It is not a gargantuan savings, obviously, but is certainly better than paying a 50 percent up-charge for a Family plan if you are only looking to use Spotify on two accounts. As with the Family plan, Premium Duo is intended for people who live under the same roof. Once you have verified that you both live at the same address, however, you can each use Spotify anywhere, on any device.

Also like a Family plan, each person on a Premium Duo plan gets their own account with separate login details, separate playlists, separate music recommendations, and so forth.

One thing that is unique to the Premium Duo plan is a new Duo Mix feature. Duo Mix is a curated playlist of songs based on music that both users like. It's a unique twist, though is not likely to be the main selling point.

In any event, it's nice to see Spotify recognizing that there is a middle ground between single Premium and Family tiers. Of course, the best deal is still for students. If you are enrolled in school, you can snag a  Premium Student subscription for €4.99 per month.

It will be interesting to see how competitors react, and in particular Apple with its Apple Music subscription service. Spotify has been aggressive in trying to differential itself, such as by bundling Hulu with a Premium subscription, for which it recently lowered the price.