How To Unblock Spotify when Blocked at School or Different Location

With over 365 million monthly active users, Spotify is the most popular streaming platform in the world. However, this music app is not equally accessible to everyone. Because of its geo-restrictions, Spotify is unavailable in more than 10 countries. Fortunately, there are different ways to bypass Spotify’s geo-restrictions.

In this article, we’ll show you how to unblock Spotify with a VPN to access worldwide coverage. We’ll also give you a recommendation for the best VPN service you can use to unblock Spotify.

How to Unblock Spotify With a VPN

You can stream music on Spotify almost anywhere in the world. To be more precise, Spotify’s global coverage extends across 178 countries. This was a significant improvement for Spotify, as this app wasn’t even available in 100 counties before 2020.

That being said, this music streaming app is still unavailable for everyone. Countries where Spotify can’t be downloaded include China, Cuba, Sudan, Ethiopia, Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela, Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, and more.

Even if Spotify is available in your region, some songs might not be. You’ll know this is the case if the song title is grayed out and you can’t play it. This happens due to expired licensing agreements, which don’t have anything to do with you or your account. Still, it can get pretty frustrating when you can’t listen to music just because you don’t live in a region where it’s available.

If Spotify isn’t available in your country, don’t worry. There is a way to bypass Spotify’s geo-restrictions, and that’s with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). For those who don’t know what a VPN is, it’s a service that lets you “change” your location to access international content. By disguising your whereabouts, a VPN doesn’t let Spotify, or any other geo-restricted app, make a connection between your device and your local server.

A VPN is also useful for those who have moved to one of these countries. Even if you are subscribed to a Premium account, you still won’t be able to use Spotify if you move to a geo-restricted region. But with a VPN, you can continue using your Premium account even if you relocate.

There are various VPN apps you can install on your smartphone. Some of these are free, while others require a monthly-based subscription. Even though you can download a free VPN, this may not be the best option since they’re usually not trustworthy.

Our tested and proven choice to unblock Spotify is ExpressVPN. It has super-fast connectivity, secure data protection, and reliable IP address masking. You’ll be able to choose a server location from up to 94 countries, and you can even switch between them as much as you like. There are plenty of other options available as well that might work, so read our full list of the best VPN services available.

You can use the same ExpressVPN account on all your devices. Moreover, ExpressVPN is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and many platforms and devices.

Other advanced features include a network lock kill switch, a private DNS, a lightway protocol, in-class encryption, a threat manager, and more.

If you want to use ExpressVPN to unblock Spotify, you must set up an account first. This is what you need to do:

1. Visit the ExpressVPN website.
   
2. Click on the “Get ExpressVPN” button on the home page.
   
3. Choose a payment plan.
   Note: ExpressVPN offers three payment plans. The one-month plan costs $12.95, but the 12-month plan pays off more since it’s only $6.67 monthly, with the first three months for free. You can also choose the six-month plan for $9.99 a month. No matter your subscription, you’re entitled to a 30-day money-back guarantee.
   
4. Type in your email address in the box.
   
5. Choose your preferred payment method. Available methods include a credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin, and others.
   
6. Copy the activation code from the browser.
   
7. Proceed to install the app for the corresponding operating system.
   
8. Open the desktop app and log in using the activation code.
   
9. Click on the “Continue” button.
   
10. Allow the app to make changes to your computer.

At this point, you have the option to launch ExpressVPN automatically every time you turn on your computer. ExpressVPN also asks you if you want to share crash reports, speed tests, usability diagnostics, and similar data types to improve the app. If you’re not interested in this option, just click on the “No Thanks” button.

Once you finish setting up the desktop app, you can use it to unblock Spotify. This is how it’s done:

1. Launch ExpressVPN.
   
2. Click on the power button.
   
3. Select the three dots on the “Current Location” bar.
   
4. Choose the city or country for the server location.
   
5. Go to Spotify on your web browser.
   
6. Download the app.
   

That’s all there is to it. This method doesn’t only let you unblock Spotify and listen to it anywhere in the world, but you can also use it to bypass firewalls some schools and workplaces might have set up.

Now that you’ve created an ExpressVPN account, you can install it on all your devices. Since you’ll probably use Spotify on your mobile phone, you’ll need to download the VPN app from the App Store or Google Play. Once you do this, it’s time to set up the app. Follow the steps below to see how it’s done:

1. Open Express VPN on your mobile phone.
   
2. Tap on the power button at the center of the screen.
   
3. Go to the three dots on the “Current Location” bar.
   
4. Select a new location. For example, “USA – New York.”
   
5. Go to Google Play or App Store to download Spotify.
   

Now, you’ll be able to download and use Spotify from a geo-restricted location. You can proceed to make a Spotify account or log in to your existing account. Keep in mind that you will have to turn on ExpressVPN every time you want to stream music on Spotify.

When you no longer need this VPN, simply launch the app and tap the power button again. The green screen will become red, and you’ll immediately be disconnected.

Can You Unblock Spotify Without a VPN?

You could try a web proxy service, but quite frankly, for changing your location this is unlikely to work. A web proxy works similarly to a VPN, except it can only hide your IP address on one website. A VPN, on the other hand, allows for secure browsing on your entire network. Particularly if you want to use an app like Spotify, a VPN is the far easier solution

There are various web proxies available for free. They work as intermediaries between your connection and the website or app you want to access.

Using a web proxy on a PC is much easier than using one on your mobile device. Note that using a web proxy isn’t as secure as a VPN. Another thing to remember is that using a web proxy can weaken your internet connection, so you may experience some bugs.

Even though there are some potential alternative solutions to unblock Spotify, in our testing, they worked sporadically at best. We recommend installing a reliable VPN, like ExpressVPN, to unblock Spotify.

Listen to Spotify No Matter Where You Are

Even though you can listen to Spotify almost anywhere, this music streaming app isn’t available in several countries. Using a VPN is the best practice if you want to unblock Spotify’s geo-restrictions, and our top recommendation is ExpressVPN. You can also use a web proxy or an unblocker, but these two options aren’t as reliable as VPNs.

Have you ever been prevented from using Spotify because of your region? What method did you use to bypass the app’s geo-restrictions? Let us know in the comments section below.