Spotify recently announced that it’s rolling out two major social updates to the app, which the platform says is designed to help friends connect over music in real time. Dubbed “Listening Activity” and “Request to Jam,” the new features are currently rolling out to iOS and Android users and are expected to be available in all messaging-enabled markets by early February.
The new Listening Activity feature allows users to opt-in to show friends and family what they are currently playing directly within their messages. When a user is active, their live song choice appears in the chat row and at the top of conversations. If they aren’t currently listening, the feature will then show the most recent track they played. This is limited to existing contacts, and users can interact with a friend’s activity by adding the song to their own library, starting playback, or reacting with emojis.
Meanwhile, Request to Jam makes it easier to start a shared listening session by allowing Premium users to send a join request directly from a chat window. If the friend accepts, they become the host of a remote Jam session where both participants can add songs to a shared queue. The app will even suggest tracks based on the combined musical tastes of everyone in the session.
Spotify says that it’s taken measures to maintain user privacy within the new features—Listening Activity is entirely optional and can be toggled off at any time through the privacy settings; while Premium users are required to initiate a Jam request, Free users can still participate if they are invited. The new features are available to users aged 16 and older.
