Take This Action Now to Avoid Getting Your Spotify Family Account Blocked.
If you have a Spotify Family plan, you may be required to verify your location to keep your account active. Like many other streaming services, Spotify has tightened its Family Sharing rules for users who don’t live in the same household, requiring QR code verification for some plan members. Once verified, you must complete the verification within seven days, or risk being locked out of the Family and Duo plans for a full year.
Spotify Family Plan Verification Guidelines
Spotify requires users on shared plans to verify their address upon signing up to ensure they live on the plan’s manager, and to re-verify if the manager changes their address. Users may also be asked to re-enter their full address if Spotify “cannot verify” their location. This, of course, doesn’t prevent users from using shared plans, as Spotify doesn’t actually track your location, only verifying your address.
Some users may encounter a QR code verification requirement, which has stricter parameters and may be more difficult to circumvent if plan members are in different locations. In such cases, the plan administrator should open the QR code on their phone via Profile > Your Premium > Manage , and plan members should scan it with their phone’s camera.
According to Spotify’s support page , both users must be in the same location to complete the scan, and the QR code changes every few seconds, making it difficult to send screenshots to those not present in person. However, as 9to5Google notes , some users have managed to circumvent these limitations through video calls, using multiple devices to perform the scan.
If you’re prompted to verify your location via email or QR code, be sure to do so within seven days of receiving the notification. Otherwise, you’ll lose access and be downgraded to a free plan. Spotify states that you can rejoin the same family or couples plan, but you’ll be prohibited from joining another shared plan for a full year.