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How to cancel your paid Spotify Premium subscription

Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and other musicians have left Spotify, which has led many listeners to also leave the popular music streaming service.

Nelson Aguilar
Nelson Aguilar is an LA-based tech how-to writer and graduate of UCLA. With more than a decade of experience, he covers Apple and Google and writes on iPhone and Android features, privacy and security settings and more.
Nelson Aguilar
2 min read
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You can't cancel Spotify through any of its apps -- you need to use a web browser.

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Over the last week or so, Spotify has been inundated with cancellation requests after a legendary musician took exception to a popular podcaster. Neil Young has publicly accused Joe Rogan of spreading COVID misinformation on his podcast, which is exclusive to Spotify, and requested that his music be removed from the streaming service if Rogan's podcast wasn't. Spotify chose Rogan, and most of Young's music has since been removed, which has left many listeners unhappy.

Users angry about the loss of Young's music, as well as music from other popular artists such as Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren, have vowed to cancel their Spotify subscriptions. Last week, Twitter users reported that Spotify temporarily shut down live customer support due to an overwhelming number of requests.

If you're looking to cancel your Spotify Premium subscription, here's how you can do it right now. And if you're looking to switch to another service, such as Apple Music, YouTube Music or Tidal, here's where you can find Young's music.

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To cancel Spotify, click "Change plan," then "Cancel Premium, then "Yes, cancel."

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

How to cancel your paid Spotify subscription

First, you can't cancel your Spotify subscription through any of the service's applications on iOS, Android, MacOS or Windows. Instead, you'll need to access your Spotify account through a web browser on your smartphone, tablet or computer. Here's how:

1. Go to spotify.com/account and log in to your account.

2. In Account Overview, scroll down to Your planand hit Change plan.

3. Next, scroll down to Available plans and hit Cancel Premium.

4. Finally, hit Yes, cancel to finish the cancellation process.

This won't delete your Spotify account but instead cancel your paid subscription and knock you down to the free tier, which still allows music streaming with advertisements. You'll also keep all your playlists and saved music. If your next billing date is still a few days or weeks away, you'll continue to have access to your premium account until that time.

If for some reason you don't see an option to change your plan, that could mean you're getting your subscription as part of a package from another company, like a mobile or internet provider or Apple. If this is your situation, you'll want to reach out to the third party to cancel your paid subscription. If you have an iPhone, for example, go to Settings, then tap your name at the top, then Subscriptions to see which services you pay for via Apple.

Alternatively, you can fill out this form and either send it via email or physical mail to cancel your Spotify subscription.

If you're part of a family plan but not the manager of the plan, you can leave the plan but not cancel the subscription. Only the owner of the plan can do that.

Now that you've canceled your Spotify subscription, where should you go? Check out the best music streaming services of 2022 according to us and see how Apple Music and Spotify, the two biggest music streaming services, compare.