How to install Spotify on Ubuntu or Debian

Spotify is a popular music streaming service available on various platforms, including Linux. By default, Ubuntu and Debian do not include Spotify in their package repositories. To install Spotify, you must add its official repository and key to the system.

Spotify uses a repository that allows you to download its latest version and handle updates through the package manager. This method ensures the installation is secure, verified by a GPG key provided by Spotify. You will need to add this repository manually, as it is not available by default on Ubuntu or Debian systems.

The repository provides access to the latest version of the Spotify client for Ubuntu and Debian. Once the repository is added, installing and updating Spotify is done through APT, like any other package. This allows users to manage Spotify updates efficiently as part of their system updates.

1. Update the package list.

   $ sudo apt update
   Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
   Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [114 kB]
   Fetched 114 kB in 1s (224 kB/s)
   Reading package lists... Done

2. Install cURL if it is not already installed.

   $ sudo apt install curl
   Reading package lists... Done
   Building dependency tree       
   Reading state information... Done
   curl is already the newest version (7.68.0-1ubuntu2.6).
   0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

3. Add Spotify’s official GPG key.

   $ curl -sS https://download.spotify.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/spotify-archive-keyring.gpg

   The GPG key ensures the authenticity and integrity of the packages downloaded from the Spotify repository. It must be installed before adding the repository.

4. Add the Spotify repository to your system’s sources list.

   $ echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/spotify-archive-keyring.gpg] http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list
   deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/spotify-archive-keyring.gpg] http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free

5. Update the package list again to include the new repository.

   $ sudo apt update
   Hit:1 http://repository.spotify.com stable InRelease
   Reading package lists... Done

6. Install Spotify.

   $ sudo apt install spotify-client
   Reading package lists... Done
   Building dependency tree       
   Reading state information... Done
   The following NEW packages will be installed:
     spotify-client
   0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
   Need to get 105 MB of archives.
   After this operation, 280 MB of additional disk space will be used.
   Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
   ...

   Once installed, you can launch Spotify from the application menu or by typing `spotify` in the terminal.