Spotify is reportedly stepping up enforcement of its Family and Duo subscription policies, requiring some users to verify their home addresses by scanning a QR code on the device of their plan manager. Subscribers who fail to complete the verification within seven days risk losing access to their paid benefits.

According to Music Business Worldwide, users who do not scan the address-verification QR code within the specified period could be downgraded to Spotify’s free tier and barred from joining another Family or Duo plan for 12 months.

Spotify’s support documentation reportedly confirms the policy, following complaints from users on Reddit who said they had received verification requests.

The rules are based on Spotify’s existing requirement that members of Family and Duo plans live at the same address. While the policy is intended to prevent people outside the same household from sharing discounted subscriptions, stricter enforcement could also affect genuine families whose members live apart temporarily.

For instance, parents may have children attending university in another city, while spouses or partners may travel frequently for work. These situations could make in-person verification difficult, even when subscribers believe they are using the service legitimately.

Goldman Sachs Sees Potential for Higher Streaming Revenue

The reported crackdown comes as financial analysts identify household verification as an opportunity for music streaming companies to increase revenue.

In its October 15 report, Music in the Air: 10 Years On, Goldman Sachs estimated that a significant number of family-plan users may actually be friends sharing subscriptions to reduce costs rather than people living together.

The analysts argued that stricter household verification could help streaming platforms generate more revenue from multi-user plans, where the amount earned per subscriber is typically lower than for individual subscriptions.

Family plans are attractive to consumers because they allow multiple people to access a service at a reduced per-person price. However, that discount also limits how much companies earn from each user.

Goldman Sachs suggested that streaming services could increase their earnings by raising subscription prices or tightening the eligibility requirements for family plans without significantly reducing demand.

Spotify Follows Netflix’s Account-Sharing Strategy

Spotify’s reported move mirrors a wider trend across the subscription industry, where companies have become stricter about account sharing after years of relatively relaxed enforcement.

Netflix, for example, famously tweeted in March 2017 that “Love is sharing a password.” The company introduced tougher password-sharing restrictions in May 2023, followed by price increases of up to 17 percent later that year.

By April 2024, Netflix had added 9.3 million subscriptions and reported a 54 percent increase in operating income. Although these figures reflect the company’s broader business performance, they demonstrated the financial potential of its subscription strategy.

Other streaming services, including Max and Disney+, also introduced measures to limit account sharing.

Spotify’s approach suggests that music streaming platforms may increasingly adopt similar policies to ensure subscribers pay according to the terms of their plans.

What This Means for Spotify Subscribers

Users sharing a Spotify Family or Duo subscription may need to watch for address-verification requests and coordinate with the person managing their plan.

Under the reported policy, anyone who receives a QR code request and fails to complete verification within seven days could lose their paid subscription benefits and face a 12-month restriction on joining another Family or Duo plan.

The requirements may prove especially inconvenient for families whose members are temporarily separated by education, employment or travel.

Subscribers who cannot meet the verification requirements may need to consider an individual subscription or an alternative streaming service.

Ultimately, Spotify’s reported crackdown reflects a broader shift in the streaming industry: companies are increasingly tightening account-sharing rules and exploring ways to generate more revenue from existing customers.