Install Spotify on Ubuntu 18.04: APT Repository Setup Guide

Spotify is one of the world’s most popular digital music streaming platforms, giving you on-demand access to over 100 million songs, podcasts, and audiobooks. It streams new releases on day one alongside deep back catalogues going back decades.

Spotify is proprietary software and is not included in the Ubuntu repositories. This guide shows you how to install Spotify on Ubuntu 18.04 using the official Spotify APT repository, which also handles automatic updates. The same steps apply to Ubuntu 16.04, Kubuntu, Linux Mint, and Elementary OS.

Prerequisite: You need sudo access.

Install Spotify on Ubuntu: Add the Official Spotify APT Repository

Import the Spotify GPG key. This registers Spotify’s public signing key with your system so apt can verify that packages from the Spotify repository are authentic and have not been tampered with:

bashsudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 4773BD5E130D1D45

The command connects to Ubuntu’s public keyserver and retrieves the Spotify signing key by its fingerprint (4773BD5E130D1D45). A successful import prints OK in the output.

Add the Spotify APT repository:

bashecho deb https://repository.spotify.com stable non-free | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list

The non-free label in the repository line does not mean Spotify costs money. It means the Spotify client is proprietary software that does not meet the open-source license criteria Ubuntu uses to classify free software. The free tier of Spotify remains free to use.

Install Spotify:

bashsudo apt updatesudo apt install spotify-client

The package name is spotify-client, not spotify. This is the official desktop client Spotify maintains for Linux.

Launch Spotify and Set Up Your Account

Start Spotify from the Activities menu by searching for “Spotify,” or directly from the terminal:

bashspotify

The first time Spotify opens, you land on a login screen. Sign in with your existing Spotify account or click Sign up to create a free account. A paid subscription is not required to use the desktop client.

The Spotify for Linux interface matches the Windows and macOS versions closely. It gives you access to your full music library, playlists, albums, and artist pages, plus a Home feed with personalized recommendations, Search, and the Podcast and Audiobook sections in the left sidebar.

A few things worth knowing:

• Audio quality: Free accounts stream at up to 160 kbps. Premium accounts unlock 320 kbps Very High quality, a noticeable difference on good speakers or headphones
• Offline downloads: Available on Premium only — free accounts require an active internet connection
• Skip limit: Free accounts have limited skips per hour on the desktop client. Premium removes all restrictions
• Keyboard shortcuts: Space plays and pauses, Ctrl+Right and Ctrl+Left skip tracks, Ctrl+L focuses the search bar
• Geo-restrictions: Spotify is not available in all countries. If you see a “not available in your region” message, a VPN with a server in a supported country resolves this

Keep Spotify Updated on Ubuntu 18.04

Because Spotify was installed through the official APT repository, future updates are delivered automatically through the standard Ubuntu package management system. New Spotify versions appear in the Software Updater alongside other system package updates.

To update Spotify from the terminal at any time:

bashsudo apt updatesudo apt upgrade

The Spotify repository registered during installation delivers client updates through the same apt mechanism as all your other packages. You never need to re-download or reinstall Spotify manually when a new version is released.

Spotify is now installed on your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop and set up to update automatically. Sign in, search for your favorite artists, and start listening. Leave a comment below if you run into any issues.