Spotify Shuffle hits mobile, free on all devices

Spotify goes free on mobile - but at what cost?
Step into the light

Spotify is now available for free on all devices, with a new mobile product - Spotify Shuffle - hitting phones without needing to pay a subscription.

You can also now enjoy the full free Spotify desktop experience on your iOS and Android tablets without a subscription.

Citing declining PC sales and the increase in tablet love, Spotify's CEO Daniel Ek explained that you'll get the same level of music access on your tablet as you do on a desktop PC.

That means you can stream music and access your playlists on Android and iOS tablets, although you'll still have to put up with ads.

Shuffle

Spotify Radio was already available on mobile on free subscriptions in the US, but now you can also access playlists on your own account on a tablet.

As for Spotify Shuffle, it allows users to play individual artists on shuffle - so it's similar to Spotify Radio but limits songs to one artist rather than trying to pick other similar bands that you may not feel like listening to at that point.

You can also add to playlists and create new ones from within Shuffle, as well as shuffle-playing any of your playlists (or the 1.5 billion other playlists on Spotify) on your phone for free.

You won't be able to cache music offline or get rid of ads on your phone or tablet without paying for the premium subscription (£9.99 in the UK, $9.99 in the US, AU$11.99 in Australia).

As Spotify Shuffle and the upgraded tablet access go live today, Spotify also revealed that it's hitting another 20 countries around the world with free mobile features in tow.

As rumoured, Led Zeppelin's back catalogue is now exclusively available to stream on Spotify.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.