Spotify Legacy Planning: What Happens to Your Account When You Die?

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to your library when you’re no longer around to hit play, here’s the reality of Spotify legacy planning in 2026.

The Hard Truth: Spotify Doesn’t Have a “Legacy Button”

Unlike Facebook (which lets you memorialize a profile) or Apple (which has Legacy Contacts), Spotify is pretty impersonal about death. To them, an account is either active or inactive.

If nobody does anything:

• The billing keeps rolling. If your account is linked to a credit card, Spotify will keep charging it until the card expires or the bank account is closed.

• The “Free” slide. Once the money stops, the account doesn’t vanish—it just reverts to the free, ad-supported version. Your playlists stay there, floating in the digital void, interrupted by the occasional loud commercial.

How to Handle a Loved One’s Account

If you’re the person left to clean up the digital trail, you have a few ways to handle it:

1. The Easy Way (If you have the login)

If you have their password, just log in and cancel the subscription in the account settings. You can keep the account active on the “Free” tier if you want to keep their playlists searchable, or you can request a permanent deletion.

2. The Official Way (If you’re locked out)

You’ll need to reach out to Spotify Support. Fair warning: it’s a bit of a process. They will generally ask for:

• An official death certificate.

• Proof that you’re the executor or next of kin. It’s a headache, but it’s the only way to shut things down legally if you don’t have the password.

3. The “Bank Move”

If the paperwork is too much, simply notifying the bank to stop the recurring payment will kill the Premium subscription. It’s the “clunt force” method, but it works.

Saving the Music: How to Inherit a Playlist

You can’t “inherit” a profile, but you can definitely save the music. If your partner or parent had a legendary collection of 70s rock, don’t let it disappear.

• Go Public: Make sure their playlists are set to “Public.” Then, from your own account, you can search for their profile, open the playlist, and hit “Add to Your Library.”

• Collaborative Playlists: This is the best “life hack.” If you share a playlist with someone now and make it “Collaborative,” you’ll both have control over it. If one person passes away, the other still has full access to manage and keep that music alive.

What You Should Do Now (Before the Music Stops)

Don’t leave your family guessing. A few minutes of prep makes a huge difference:

• The Password Manager: Put your Spotify login in a vault (like 1Password or Bitwarden) and set up an “Emergency Contact.”

• The “Legacy Letter”: Write a simple note in your estate files. Tell your family: “I want my ‘Summer Hits 2024’ playlist to stay public so you guys can listen to it.”

• Export Your Data: Use a tool like Soundiiz once a year to download a CSV of your library. That way, you actually “own” a list of your music that exists outside of Spotify’s servers.

The Bottom Line

Your taste in music is a huge part of who you are. While Spotify treats accounts like subscriptions, your family sees them as memories. A little bit of planning ensures your life’s soundtrack doesn’t just get silenced by a failed payment.