In 2018, Spotify was available in many countries around the world. The same year, Spotify offered an attractive deal available only to students: Spotify Premium, Hulu Limited, and Showtime, all for one monthly payment of $4.99. The fee is half the amount charged for a standard Spotify Premium account. To qualify for the deal, students must provide their information, such as name and birthdate, to Spotify and its third-party partner, SheerID. SheerID is a verification service utilized by companies to confirm various personal attributes and qualifications. In other words, your current student status at a Title IX school is in a database, which is accessed by SheerID. 

a. Is Spotify utilizing group pricing? If so, what are the market segments? 

b. Why would Spotify require third-party verification for the discount, rather than simply requiring an “.edu” e-mail address, as many other retailers do, to verify student eligibility? 

c. How do you feel about the verification process? Do you think this will be the new norm?