# Official consensus on Spotify as link to "free streaming"
**URL:** https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434
**Category:** Style
**Tags:** free, ad-supported, streaming, paid, digital-media, voting, external-link, spotify, relationships
**Created:** [March 16, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434 "2026-03-16T04:31:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@victimless-grime](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/victimless-grime)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434/1 "2026-03-16T04:31:46Z")
I found a few threads discussing the topic but I’m curious if there was ever a collective agreement on whether or not Spotify should be considered “free”. I was on the side of no, it shouldn’t be, but Aerozol makes a solid point in this comment [here:](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/streamed-for-free/475142/7)
> [@Streamed for free?](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/streamed-for-free/475142/7):
>
> It’s semantics really, isn’t it?
>
> The intent is to let people know that you can follow the link and listen to the song without handing over money, and I’m sure that’s how people understand it. They know what site they’re being sent to via the link and can make their own assessment.
>
> …
>
> Disclaimer: I also strongly believe Spotify is satan manifested on earth as a music “service” 🙂
Everyone knows what Spotify is and how much access they have based on their region. So, I think leaving it how it is, is fine.
To be clear, I’m not trying to reignite this topic as it’s been discussed in quite a few threads. The above post comes from one of them. I just want to know if the community has landed on anything one way or the other, or if it’s left to editor discretion. I’ve seen a few edits removing the links, and I’d like to know which way to vote.
---
### Author:  [@aerozol](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/aerozol)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2026, 6:55am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434/2 "2026-03-16T06:55:13Z")
If I’m understanding this correctly and haven’t missed anything:
As far as I know, ‘free streaming’ Spotify links _definitely shouldn’t be removed_ (assuming that the Spotify link is correct for that specific release/track etc, and it can be streamed on Spotify).
The discussion was about the semantics of how those relationships should be named/sorted, not if the relationships should exist at all - we can still update “stream for free” → “stream for [different title that is more specific about the true nature of ‘free’ in this modern hellscape]” for Spotify links at any time in the future.
---
### Author:  [@jesus2099](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/jesus2099)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2026, 7:51am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434/3 "2026-03-16T07:51:06Z")
Same for Deezer and probably other streaming sites (I don’t know much).
It should be renamed to just “stream”.
---
### Author:  [@victimless-grime](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/victimless-grime)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2026, 11:44am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434/4 "2026-03-16T11:44:15Z")
> [@aerozol](#):
>
> As far as I know, ‘free streaming’ Spotify links _definitely shouldn’t be removed_
All I needed to know, thank you.
As far as changing the wording is concerned, I’m ok with whatever. Obviously it’d be preferable that it said something other than free, and that seems to be what **most** of the community wants, but honestly after finding [tickets.metabrainz.org](http://tickets.metabrainz.org) and seeing all the reports there, I’m not sure this should be high priority. As you pointed out, people know what they’re getting with these services. Then again, I have only a basic understanding of programming, so maybe it’s a quick and easy task.
---
### Author:  [@Lotheric](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Lotheric)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/official-consensus-on-spotify-as-link-to-free-streaming/814434/5 "2026-03-16T12:08:48Z")
Wording could be changed but I would advise against removing stream for free links. I think it can be useful for projects like BrainzPlayer to be able to stream content with or without a paid account.