I pay for premium, and background play is a feature exclusive to premium whichis great because i listen to things that really don't need to be watched. Recent updates have disabled pause / play functionality from my ear buds (Samsung galaxy buds) while the screen is locked, forcing me to grab my phone and unlock it just pause when my attention is needed elsewhere. The only way I can get the app ro work properly is by uninstalling the updates each time it updates, so I can run an older version.