Spotify - what next for users?

It seemed too good to be true - and it is, apparently.

Spotify will implement major restrictions on its usage from 1st May - a week on Sunday - to existing as well as new customers on the free version:

As of May 1st, any user who signed up to the free service on or before November 1st 2010 will be able to play each track for free up to a total of 5 times. Users who signed up after the beginning of November will see these changes applied 6 months after the time they set up their Spotify account.

Additionally, total listening time for free users will be limited to 10 hours per month after the first 6 months. That’s equivalent to around 200 tracks or 20 albums.

I always wondered how Spotify could justify providing its huge music selection for free with - let's face it - minimal advertising interruptions (that said, though, the ads were quite grating).

So it is no surprise that changes have to be made. But let's see how the new limits break down. Ten hours a month is equivalent to just twenty minutes a day. Currently, I use Spotify all day, every day that I am working at my laptop. Twenty minutes is nothing, especially with the approaching exam season and the resultant, and seemingly endless, revision.

I also tend to become obsessed with a song, and play it constantly on Spotify. (currently it's The Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star'!) Restricting an individual song to just five plays seems harsh - but, as Spotify point out, it certainly gives users enough time to work out whether they like the track enough to buy it.

So, for me, four options exist:

1. Use minimal, but still free Spotify, supplemented by my smaller iTunes collection and perhaps even a Youtube playlist.

2. Pay for Spotify Premium/Unlimited.

3. Dramatically extend my iTunes library.

4. A combination of the above.

I should declare here that piracy is not an option. I am expecting piracy to rise, at least initially, but I cannot condone that.

Hmm. Just under a fortnight to decide!