In a significant move to enhance its social experience, Spotify has officially launched two new features designed to connect users through music. The global music streaming giant has introduced 'Listening Activity' and 'Request to Jam', aiming to transform solitary listening into a shared, interactive experience directly within the Spotify app.
Spotify Listening Activity: See What Friends Are Streaming
The new Listening Activity feature allows users to share what they are playing in real-time with their friends and family on Spotify. According to an official company blog post, this provides a live window into the musical tastes of your contacts. If someone is not actively listening, their most recently played track will be displayed instead.
Friends can interact with this activity in several ways. They can tap on it to add the song to their own library, start playing it immediately, open the track's menu for more options, or react using one of six standard emojis. Crucially, this feature is opt-in, putting users in complete control of their privacy. You decide who gets to see your listening habits.
How to Enable and Use Listening Activity
To turn on Listening Activity, users need to navigate to their Privacy and social settings, accessible via the side drawer next to the 'View profile' button. Once activated, your activity will appear in the chat row of the side drawer and at the top of your Messages chats.
Importantly, your listening updates are only shared with people you have already messaged on Spotify's platform. You can disable the feature at any moment, ensuring your musical journey remains private if you choose.
Request to Jam: Turn Listening into a Shared Session
Building on the social theme, Spotify has also rolled out 'Request to Jam'. This feature is designed to let Premium subscribers easily invite friends or family from their Messages list into a live, collaborative listening session. The company noted that daily active users of its Jam feature have more than doubled year-over-year, signaling strong demand for shared listening experiences.
Once a Jam request is accepted, the recipient becomes the host of the session. Both participants can then add tracks to a joint playlist, listen synchronously, and chat in real-time. A key aspect of this update is its inclusivity: while only Premium users can initiate a Jam, free users can join when invited, broadening access to collaborative listening.
How to Start a Jam Session
The process is streamlined for ease of use. From within a Messages chat, Premium users can simply tap the 'Jam' button in the top right corner to send an invitation for a remote listening party. The friend receives the request and can choose to accept or decline.
Upon acceptance, a shared queue is created where both parties can contribute songs, fostering a dynamic and interactive musical dialogue. This feature directly complements the new Listening Activity by providing a seamless path from discovering what a friend is playing to instantly joining them in a shared audio space.
These dual launches underscore Spotify's continued investment in social features, moving beyond a purely individual streaming service to a platform that facilitates musical connection and discovery among friends and family. The opt-in nature of the Listening Activity addresses potential privacy concerns, while the expanded Jam functionality encourages more users to experience music together, regardless of their subscription tier.
