Spotify is not just a platform for listening; it’s a vibrant community where users can share their favorite songs, podcasts, and audiobooks with friends and family. Last year, we took a significant step by introducing Messages, which allows users to communicate about what they love right within the app. The response has been nothing short of remarkable—nearly 40 million users have sent close to 340 million messages, revealing a strong enthusiasm among listeners to share their musical experiences.
We’re excited to enhance this sharing experience with two innovative features: Listening Activity and Request to Jam. Listening Activity provides users with a real-time glimpse into the music their friends and family are currently enjoying, while Request to Jam simplifies the process of initiating shared listening experiences.
Let’s Dive Deeper...
Listening Activity is an opt-in feature that lets you show your friends and family what you’re listening to at any given moment through Messages. If you aren’t currently tuned in to any music, the last song you played will be displayed instead. This feature is only visible to those people you’ve already connected with through Messages, ensuring a level of privacy. Interestingly, even if you choose not to share your own activity, you can still see what others are listening to, provided they have opted in.
Here's how you can activate this feature:
- To enable Listening Activity, go to Privacy and Social settings, which you can find in the side menu next to the "View profile" button.
- Once activated, your listening activity will appear both in your chat history and at the top of your Messages conversations.
- By tapping on a friend or family member’s activity, you can easily add tracks to your library, start playing a song, access additional options from the track's context menu, or express your reaction using one of six standard emojis.
It’s important to note that Listening Activity is shared only with individuals you’ve already communicated with on Spotify, so you have full control over who sees your listening habits. At any point, you can easily turn off this feature.
Enter Request to Jam
To further enrich your auditory experience, we’re introducing Request to Jam—an exciting way for users to invite friends or family members to join them in a live listening session. The Jam feature has seen tremendous growth, with daily active users more than doubling over the past year. It allows users to listen to music together from anywhere, but knowing when friends are available to share a listening session can be challenging.
Now, with Request to Jam, you can clearly see when someone is currently listening, making it simple to join them. Plus, you can engage in real-time messaging while jamming, allowing for lively discussions about the music being played and what’s coming next.
Here’s how to use Request to Jam:
- Within a Messages chat, Premium users can click on Jam in the upper right corner to send a request for a remote listening session.
- The recipient will get the invitation and can either accept or decline the offer.
- If they accept, they become the host of the Jam session, and both users can contribute tracks to a shared playlist for a collaborative listening experience.
When friends participate in a Jam, they’ll see each other's usernames and profile pictures, along with song suggestions tailored to their combined musical tastes. Users have the flexibility to exit a Jam whenever they wish, and if invitations aren’t accepted within a few minutes, they will automatically expire.
Listening Activity and Request to Jam are now being rolled out to users in markets where Messages is available on both iOS and Android devices, with a full rollout expected by early February. Listening Activity is accessible to all users who have Messages, and even Free users can join a Jam session if invited by someone with a Premium account. Since both features are integrated into Messages, they are available for users aged 16 and older.
These updates make it easier than ever for Spotify users to enjoy music together, enhancing opportunities for discovery and personal expression.
So, what do you think about these new features? Do they enhance your listening experience? Or do you feel that sharing your activity could compromise your privacy? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
