This whole process takes less than 5 minutes. It’s too easy NOT to do it…

Skip all the way to the bottom for the super short version without all the needless words.

So, Spotify is a great service. For a fee of nothing, they offer you 16 million songs at your fingertips. If you pay a measly $10/month, you don’t have to listen to ads, and you can stream or sync songs on your mobile phone. It’s pretty fantastic, really.

The biggest problem with Spotify these days is that they force you to sign up using your Facebook account. For some people, that’s fine, but I’m seeing more and more people complaining about this lately. 

Well, I found away to get around that little requirement. Now, it requires creating a new account, which means you might have a little trouble migrating your playlists over, but really… it’s worth the hassle. A nice little “bonus” for doing it this way is that you get to actually choose a username. Fun! 

See, because Germany isn’t too keen on Facebook, Spotify recently gave Germans the option to opt out of linking their Spotify account to their Facebook account. It was necessary, since so few people in that country actually use Facebook. Thank goodness for that, because that’s exactly the loophole we needed to open up this option to the rest of the world.

Here are the instructions. It’s really easy stuff, I swear. In a few minutes, you’ll have a new Spotify account, based in your own country (as long as Spotify is available in your country), without any link whatsoever to your most reviled social network.

Step 1: You need to find a web proxy based in Germany. https://www.german-proxy.de/ works great. A web proxy just makes websites think you’re in a different country.

Step 2: Enter this address into the proxy site: https://www.spotify.com/de/signup/open/

Step 3: When the page loads, you’ll see a giant blue Facebook-like button. Right below it, there should be green text that says, “Account mit meiner Email Adresse erstellen.” Click on that text. It’s a link.

Step 4: Here’s where you enter your personal information.

1. Benutzername (username) - You can’t change this later, so choose something you want forever.

2. Email (Email address) - Enter your email address here.

3. Kennwort (password) - Choose a unique password, not something you use anywhere else. You can change it later.

4. Kennwort bestätigen (password re-entry) - Type your password again.

5. Postleitzahl (postal code) - Must be a 5-digit number. Pick one from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_postal_codes_in_Germany

6. Geschlecht (sex) - männlich=male, weiblich=female

7. Geburtsdatum (birthdate) - select the appropriate day/month/year

8. Make sure the checkbox beside “Hiermit akzeptiere ich Spotify’s Datenschutzrichtlinien und Nutzungsbedingungen” is selected. This is your acceptance of the Spotify user agreement.

9. Select the “Weiter” button. This will take you to the next page.

Step 5: This next page lets you pick which service you want to subscribe to. You MUST select Spotify Es ist gratis! (Spotify Free!). You must also select a payment method. Choose the one on the far right, which represents a Spotify Gift Card. Select the “Weiter” button again.

You now have a German Spotify account without being linked to Facebook. Hooray! Let’s get it changed to your actual country now.

Step 6: Open a new tab in your web browser. You can close the one using the web proxy, as that is no longer required. Go directly to: http://www.spotify.com/us/

Step 7: Log into your newly-created account. The “log in” button is in the top right corner of the web page. Be sure to choose “Log in using Spotify details.”

Step 8: Once you are logged in, click on your username and select “Edit Profile”

Step 9: Beside “Country” you will see the text, “To change your profile country you’ll need to update your payment details.” That’s a link. Click it.

Step 10: First, change your Country and zip code to your real country (ie: USA) and real zip code (ie: 90210). Choose a real payment method. Even if you continue using Spotify Free, you still have to do this. If you have a Paypal account, that’s the easiest way to go.

Step 11: Depending on what payment method you choose, you’ll either have to enter your credit card info or log into your Paypal account. Do that, and accept the prompts that follow.

DONE! You now have a Spotify account that has NO link to Facebook!

When you log into the desktop app for the first time, all your preferences are reset to the defaults. You’ll be prompted to connect to Facebook, but you can choose “No thanks.” I also suggest going into the Preferences menu and immediately un-checking all of the local files folders. But that’s me. If you want Spotify Premium, just hit the “Upgrade” button in the desktop software and go from there.

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!!

Proxy sites aren’t always very secure. That’s why I told you to use a unique password. Now that your account is all set up the way you want it, don’t forget to change your damn password again. Just to be safe.

Follow steps 7 and 8 above to log into your account and edit your profile. This time, instead of editing your Country and zip code, just change your password. Easy stuff.

THE SHORT VERSION

1. Go to spotify.com using a German web proxy: https://www.german-proxy.de/

2. Create a new German account using the link BELOW the Facebook link.

3. Stop using the web proxy!

4. Log into your account and change the country to your real one.

5. Enjoy Spotify without needing a Facebook account.

6. Change your password. Just to be safe.