There are quite a few countries where Spotify still hasn’t officially launched – the largest markets being India and China. That doesn’t mean that Spotify is just unavailable, far from it. The streaming service is still accessible and feature rich from these countries. It just takes a little bit of dedication (and you can even do it for free.)
To Access Spotify from India, there are 3 things you will need:
- A VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A VPN will bypass geographic filters to seem as though you’re accessing Spotify from a different country (where Spotify is available, such as the US). It will also route and encrypt your traffic from your ISP, making them unable to trace your internet browsing history.
- If you want to use Spotify Mobile, a cracked Spotify Mobile App
A cracked app basically gives you Spotify Premium service without subscribing. You’ll find no ads, no forced shuffle and direct access to every song on the Spotify library, and if you’re a music creator you can also buy spotify plays to promote your music.
- If you want to use Spotify Desktop, just install an AdBlocker
A good Adblocker will always stay ahead of Spotify’s 30 second ads and will allow you to use Spotify Open from a web browser with free reign (ad free, unlimited songs, no forced shuffle.)
Note: These methods are not in line with Spotify’s Terms of Service – there’s always a risk of them shutting down these methods or even banning your account. It’s unlikely, but possible.
How to Use Spotify in India (PC, Mac, Linux and Android)
We’ll assume you want unlimited Spotify access in India on both desktop and mobile. So we’ll go through it step by step:
Step 1: Install a VPN
Using a Free VPN (Not Recommended)
There are viable free VPNs out there. The problem with Free VPNs is, of course, that you can’t guarantee the security of your connection. Many “Free VPNs” are outright scams, and sell not just your browsing history but also inject ads into your browser. There are those that simply don’t work and there are those that have such unreasonable usage limits that they’re simply not practical to use. Imagine a VPN with a 128kbps max connection speed, or a 20MB browsing limit.
Still, there’s one Open Source free VPN service I’d recommend; Psiphon. They have a 2Mbps speed limit but that’s enough for some light web browsing and Spotify. The service starts off opening affiliate tabs but you can just close them immediately, so they’re not much of a nuisance. Plus, it’s open source so you could always verify the integrity of the package yourself.
Why I don’t recommend Free VPNs
- Since nothing in life is truly free, the service is getting some value out of your usage, somewhere. They usually don’t disclose it either.
- Arbitrary usage restrictions (download speed, time limits, throttling connections).
- The VPN server is usually shared by many users. This is a risk because something illegal or untoward by one of the users can compromise users on the entire server (which could be you).
Using a Paid VPN
There are some paid VPN services that range in the realm of $5-10 a month. The VPNs I know of that are generally recommended for being user-friendly and secure are:
- Tunnelbear: has a free 500MB per month plan. But that’s not enough for anyone, is it?
- Private Internet Access: the most popular VPN service in India and worldwide is also the most accessible.
Both of these VPNs have servers all across the world, including the United States and India. You can select a country where Spotify is available and start browsing immediately.
Setting Up Your Own VPN (Tricky, but Highly Recommended)
The trouble with any VPN service is you’re essentially placing the trust of your privacy in their hands. Whether it’s free or paid, VPN services are always hounded by various governments (because they help bypass censorship) or companies (because they help bypass copyright). The only way to keep your privacy in your own hands is by setting up your own VPN service on a server that you own.
You can easily buy a $5 VPS (Virtual Private Server) and set up OpenVPN (free and open source) on it to create your own VPN service. You can pass your VPN to all your devices or even share with your friends. It’s possible to do it all in under 30 minutes. Here’s a guide on how to get started with a VPS.
Step 2: Install the Open-source ad-free version of Spotify for Android
- It’s called Spotify Dogfood, and it’s available on the XDA Developers forum.
- Simply download the APK file from the Github link onto your Android device and install it.
- Make sure your VPN is online and set to a country where Spotify is available (like the United States), and login.
- You don’t need Spotify Premium and you won’t see ads.
- There’s currently no ad-free app mod of Spotify for iOS, for obvious reasons.
Step 3: Install an Adblocker for Unlimited Ad-Free Spotify Web
The Adblocker I use is free and open source, and it’s the extremely popular uBlock Origin (Chrome Extension). It’s also available for Firefox.
Make sure the Adblocker and VPN are on and you should have Ad-free, shuffle free access to Spotify from any country in the world.
Conclusion
Using the steps above, you should be able to listen to Spotify in India, or indeed from anywhere in the world. If you decide to use a Free VPN, you could do it for absolutely free too.
Again, as a disclaimer, we do not endorse any product or method listed here – this is just some popular, easily available information from the web, to help people till the launch of Spotify India.