Spotify has announced it is scrapping its five-play limit for non-paying users in the UK. The policy was introduced in April 2011 for all Spotify Free users after six months of usage, leaving music fans with the unsightly image of their favourite songs being "greyed out" after five plays. However, in a blog post on Tuesday (March 19, 2013), Spotify said non-paying users can now "listen to your favourite songs as many times as you like."

"We've got some mighty fine news for all Spotify Free users. From today, there's no more 5 play-per-song limit. You can listen to your favourite songs as many times as you like," continued the statement, "That's right, no more greyed-out songs. The tracks that you couldn't listen to before will once again be available for your listening pleasure." The five-plays limit had already been moved from Spotify services in Sweden, Spain, Finland, Norway and The Netherlands. The streaming giant recently revealed it has well over 20 million active users and has paid out more than $500 million to music rights-holders since 2006, though notable competition is on the horizon. 

Nine Inch Nails frontman and tech guru Trent Reznor has teamed up with Dr Dre to develop Daisy, a new music streaming service that will be in direct competition with Spotify. Set to launch in mid-2013, the Beats By Dre funded project will place more emphasis on human recommendations, as opposed to Spotify's computerised advice. "There's a real value in trusted filters," Reznor told the New Yorker. "It's like having your own guy when you go into the record store, who knows what you like but can also point you down some paths you wouldn't necessarily have encountered."

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