How to unblock Spotify

Have you ever seen either of these messages and wondered how to unblock Spotify?

1. “Spotify is currently not available in your country.”

2. “Be the first to know when we launch.”

Spotify formally allows anyone who has a Premium account to change their country whenever they want – essentially advertising unlimited use wherever you are. Formally, they say:

“If you have Premium, you can use Spotify anywhere in the world for as long as you like!”

The caveat is that you need to have a payment method for a country that Spotify does allow. Here are Spotify’s official directions for changing your country in your account. Spotify is currently only officially available in 80 countries. Where does that leave the citizens of the hundred plus countries that aren’t included?

How to use Private Internet Access to unblock Spotify

Private Internet Access encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through our servers so that your internet service provider (or the government over their shoulder) has no idea what apps you are using and your privacy is protected. If you’re unable to use Spotify, simply turn on Private Internet Access and you’ll have unrestricted access to the open internet, as it was meant to be.

1. Download Private Internet Access from the Google Play Store, the Apple iTune App Store, or the APK file (for advanced users) if you haven’t already
2. Connect to Private Internet Access with your username and password
   1. Select a server in a country that is not blocking Spotify and is on their list of 80 countries (I recommend the United States)
3. Enjoy unrestricted access to Spotify

How to unblock Spotify app download from the iTunes App Store?

If you can’t find where to download the Spotify app from the locally available app store, you can still access the full App Store by changing your country settings in your phone preferences. Do so by following the below instructions

1. Navigate to the Settings icon on your Home screen.
2. Select iTunes & App Store with your finger.
3. Select Apple ID with your finger.
4. Authenticate with whatever security measure you have set (Password or Touch ID).
5. Select Country/Region with your finger.
6. Select Change Country or Region with your finger.
7. Choose a new country or region (I suggest the United States).
8. Tap on Next.
9. Restart your phone to access a less restrictive App Store

How to unblock Spotify app download from the Google Play Store?

If you can’t find the Spotify app available for download from your locally available app store, you can still access the full Google Play App Store by changing your country settings in your phone preferences. Do so by following the below directions.

1. Open the Google Play Store app on your Android phone or tablet.
2. Select Menu Account Country and profiles. You should see two countries – your currently selected Google Play country and the country that Google thinks you’re currently in.
3. Select the country you want to change to.

Why unblock Spotify with Private Internet Access

If someone wishes to unblock Spotify where it is geo-blocked, they simply need to access the internet from a country where Spotify will stream music to. In essence, by using a private internet tunnel, you’ll be able to access the internet from another country. Believe it or not, sound travels just find through a tunnel. Getting the Spotify app might still be an issue, though. I recommend using the web app as much as possible for stuff like this to avoid hardware based dependencies. What that means in terms of this guide, though, is that using the Private Internet Access Firefox Add-On or the Private Internet Access Google Chrome Extension might be the easy way to unblock Spotify and other apps that you can use in your browser.

Featured image from Emir Dalgıç via CC By 3.0 License.