Spotify confirms QR code verification for its Family plan

Spotify confirmed stronger verification checks for its Family plan during its quarterly earnings presentation, TechCrunch reports. Its co-CEO Alex Norström describes the change as a routine improvement to existing checks. That characterization does not alter the practical consequences described for members asked to complete them.

According to the support documentation cited by TechCrunch, the system asks members to use their own phones to scan a QR code displayed on the plan manager's phone. The process aims to verify that they live together. It therefore requires the devices to be near each other at the time of the check.

After receiving the notification, members have seven days to complete verification. If they miss that deadline, they cannot join another Family or Duo plan for 12 months and must switch to a paid individual subscription. A temporary absence can therefore complicate the process, although the excerpt does not detail any possible avenues of appeal.

Norström describes user verification as ongoing work intended to adapt methods when ways around them emerge. The report specifies neither the number of accounts affected nor the geographic scope of the rollout. It therefore does not establish that all Family subscribers will receive this request or allow an assessment of the commercial gains Spotify might derive from it.