How To Get Spotify In Canada

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Can you access Spotify from Canada?  Yes, it is possible!  Although Pandora may always be the godfather of streaming internet radio there’s a new kid on the block that is causing quite the stir.

The most unique feature about Spotify is the slick desktop app that is perfectly integrated with Facebook.  The desktop app does make it challenging for people who are looking to stream their music on public or shared computers that you are not able to install applications on.  If you are looking for a truly internet based music streaming site we recommend that you check out our guide on how to get Pandora Canada.

If you are on your home computer and can download Spotify (yes, even from Canada) we highly recommend that you do.  Why? Because it’s awesome of course!

If you’re living in Canada or anywhere else in the world that is not the USA and you follow this guide to get Spotify, you will instantly gaining access to millions, yes millions, of free song. Since you’re here you probably have seen the screen where Spotify tells you that you can’t access those millions and millions of free songs because you don’t live in Canada:

Spotify is nice enough to give you an option to add your email address and be the first to know if it’s ever possible to download Spotify up here in the great white north but don’t waste your time holding your breath.

Instead, you should just follow the simple steps below and in a few minutes you will have full access to Spotify outside of the USA!  Enough talking it’s time to get to the step by step guide on how you can get Spotify in Canada.

Step #1: Get HMA

The heavy lifting will be done by a great service that we refer to as HMA because of their slightly PG-13 name and we like to keep things G-rated around here. HMA is a service that we have been personally using for almost two years now and we are recommend it to you because we love it.

What HMA does is it secutely encrypts your internet connection and routes it through one of their 139 servers in the USA and allows you to work behind one of the 17,000 plus unique IP address in the United States.

By virtually residing in the United States you are able to trick Spotify into thinking that you live in the US and they will gladly let you download their desktop application.

Step #2: Download HMA and “Move” To The USA

After you get HMA, you will want to download it to your computer. After you log into your account you will be able to find the download software link on the top left of the page:

After downloading HMA, launch the program and the best way to set it up quickly (and by quick we mean about 3 seconds) simply set the “Quick VPN Country Change” to “Random 10 closest servers base on geographical location”. We have found that this setting is best when you’re using HMA to access Spotify in Canada as HMA will automatically select one of the 10 closest servers in the USA based on where you live. Here is what the control panel will look like:

 Step 3: Download Spotify in Canada

Now that your computer is successfully residing in the United States you can head over to www.spotify.com and download their application.  You will notice that this time their website will look very different.  To start listening to those millions of songs for free click the big green “Download Spotify” button:

There is always a chance that Spotify has changed their landing page by the time you’re reading this but when you land on Spotify’s page just look for the “Get Spotify” tab and then select the option you want.

We recommend that you start with the free option even though it’s ad supported and limited to a certain hours of music per month.  Unless you’re using this as background music at a restaurant, office, etc. the free plan should be enough music for you each month.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed Spotify onto your computer you’re ready to move to step 4, which we are sure you’re going to love.

Step 4: Listen To Spotify all over Canada

Thanks to HMA you can now listen to Spotify on your computer from Canada, or from anywhere outside of the USA, whenever you want!

The Bottom Line

You don’t have to enter your email address at Spotify and sit around hoping for them to send you an email letting you know they’re now available in Canada (which is very unlikely by the way).  With HMA and the simple steps above you can listen to Spotify anywhere in Canada in just a few minutes.

We know that HMA isn’t free, but it’s very reasonably priced especially if you consider that you will be able to access millions and millions of free songs from Spotify.  Not to mention you’ll be able to access Pandora, Hulu, US Netflix and so much more from Canada as well.

Pro Tip: If you are planning on giving HMA a try and were thinking about only choosing the one month option for $11.52/month we recommend that you pick the 12-month plan for $6.55/month so you can lock in the 42% savings. The reason we suggest this is because HMA has a 30-day money back guarantee that allows you to try HMA risk free. If you don’t like all the free music, movies, TV shows and more that you will be able to access thanks to HMA just ask for a refund. No hard feelings.

Update 11/5/2012: I wanted to come back and leave a little review of Spotify as I have been listening to it more and more lately. I have to say, I’m thoroughly impressed. Now, don’t get me wrong… I love Pandora. Really, I love Pandora because it gets me outside of my box (Pandora’s Box maybe?) musically and I fall in love with new artists and bands that I never even knew existed. But that being said, there are times that I just want to be able to play the exact song, artist or band that I want to hear at that specific time. This is when I turn to Spotify. Personally I love music from the 60s & 70s and when I’m in a certain kind of mood I always want to Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks from 1975. With Spofity, I just search for “Bob Dylan” then click on Blood on the Tracks and I get to listen to the entire album start to finish! Spotify is like having 8 millions songs in your musical library.

Can you please do us a huge favor and this guide with your friends and family on Facebook? Thanks!

Enjoy Spotify in Canada my fellow Canadians!