Can you listen to Spotify with Friends? Well, yes, you can. However, you must be a Premium subscriber to launch a group session to listen to music with your friends. To do this, start listening to something on Spotify’s mobile app, then tap the Spotify Connect button. Choose Begin a remote group session. You will be able to share the link that comes up with up to seven people after tapping Invite Friends.
But let’s go into this in more detail.
What Exactly Is A Spotify Group Session?
If you don’t want to watch a video streaming service virtually with your friends, Spotify has you covered. Group Sessions, a feature of the popular music streaming platform, allows up to five Spotify Premium users to join a virtual listening party. When you’re connected, you and your friends can listen to any song or podcast on Spotify simultaneously.
In May 2020, Spotify launched the Group Sessions feature. At first, only Premium users in the same location could listen together, but Spotify later expanded it to allow global connections.
The Spotify Group Session is currently only available to Spotify Premium subscribers and only on Spotify’s mobile app for phones and tablets. On Spotify’s desktop apps, there is currently no option.
How do Spotify Group Sessions Work?
Spotify group sessions enable users to listen to the same music in real-time. Everyone involved has complete control over what happens and can leave whenever they want.
It’s a great feature, but there are some important limitations. For starters, it’s limited to eight people, which is usually more than enough but puts a damper on silent raves. More importantly, it’s only available to Spotify Premium subscribers—and only from an Android or iOS device.
How Do You Start a Spotify Group Session?
To begin, follow these steps:
- Start listening to music in the Spotify mobile app. Tap the Spotify Connect button in the lower-left corner, which resembles a speaker in front of a screen. If you’re already listening to something on a speaker, another icon (such as Google Cast, pictured) may appear in its place. If you do not want the session audio to be limited to that speaker, you must return to phone or tablet output.
- Find an option at the bottom of the following popup titled Start a remote group session. To listen to a speaker, make sure Multiple people can join and control this speaker when it is turned on.
- Tap Invite Friends once you’ve started a session. Depending on your platform, you’ll be given various link-sharing options or the option to copy a link that you can paste anywhere.
To End the Session
Press the Spotify Connect button again to end a Spotify group session. At the bottom, there’s a section labeled Remote group session, which includes icons for active listeners. Tap Confirm, then End Session.
What is a Spotify Listening Party?
If you’re a Discord user and a Spotify Premium subscriber, you can use the Listen Along feature to host desktop listening parties. These are similar to group sessions, but the hosts have complete control, and people can communicate with each other via text chat (voice chat is not supported).
There is no limit to the number of people who can listen, but Spotify Free may not work properly for secondary (non-host) listeners. Discord claims that Free listeners will receive an error message, whereas Spotify claims that Premium listeners will simply hear silence while Free listeners will hear advertisements.
How do I listen to Spotify with Discord Friends?
A new way to listen to Spotify with friends is to use the Spotify Listening Party feature in conjunction with Discord.
What exactly is Discord?
Discord is an intelligent voice, video, and text chat software. It’s a place where people can talk about anything on a daily basis, from homework to art. Users can integrate listen, game chat, and party all with Discord and listen with friends on Spotify by connecting Discord to Spotify.
How to Host a Spotify Listening Party
When a Group Session is active, everyone can access the same playback controls. At any time, anyone can play, pause, skip, or add tracks to the queue. There is currently no way for a host to lock these controls, but since Group Session is still in beta, this is a feature that Spotify will most likely implement in the future.
- Launch Spotify on your phone or tablet.
- Choose a song or a podcast episode.
- It’s a good idea to choose a song from a playlist so that you have plenty of options. Otherwise, you may only be able to hear one song and will have to start a new Group Session.
- In the bottom-left corner of your screen, tap the Connect icon.
- Scroll past your streamable devices and choose Start Session from the Start a Group Session menu.
- Scan to Join instead if you want to join a session. This allows you to join a Group Session by scanning a QR code on a friend’s device.
- Click the Invite Friends button.
- Choose your preferred method of invitation. You can send a link using Copy Link, text, or a messaging app like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
Because Spotify doesn’t have built-in chat functionality, you’ll need to use a third-party app to chat with friends during a Group Session.
To end the Group Session, return to the Connect screen by clicking the Left-Facing Arrow.
End the session by clicking the button.
How do you change your Spotify username?
Your Spotify username cannot be changed, but your display name can. To change your display name, go to Home > Settings > View Profile > tap your display name. The display name appears in your profile, app, and playlists.
How Can Discord Users Listen to Spotify Together?
A Discord account is linked to Spotify, and a Spotify premium account is required to use the Spotify Listening Party feature with Discord. You can host Spotify listening parties on desktop using the Listen Alone feature, which is similar to Group Session. However, unlike Remote Group Session, it is only available for the Spotify desktop app and requires a host to control everything and invite an unlimited number of people. Here are the detailed steps for listening to Spotify with Discord friends:
- Step 1: Open the desktop apps for Spotify and Discord. (Assumption: Connect Spotify to Discord.)
- Step 2: Navigate to a Discord channel where you can send text messages, including private messages. Then look for a grey “+” icon where you can type text.
- Step 3: Open Spotify and switch to the currently playing mode. Then, in Discord, the “+” icon in the text box is taped with green playing mode.
- Step 4: Begin inviting friends on Discord by selecting “Invite #general to Listen to Spotify” and pressing the “+” button. With Spotify’s Listen Along Invite feature, your friends can click “Join” to listen with you.
Log in to Spotify.com/account, then select Change Plan > Cancel Premium. Your Premium membership will remain active until the next billing cycle, at which point it will be converted to a free membership. You will not lose your playlists or saved music as a result of the change.
How do you uninstall Spotify?
To delete a free Spotify account, go to support.spotify.com/contact-spotify-support/ and choose Account > I want to close my account > Delete my account. The account must be closed. To complete the process, follow the on-screen instructions.
How do you link Spotify and Discord?
Open the Discord app’s menu and go to Connections > Spotify. A new web page appears, prompting you to sign in to your Spotify account or create one if you don’t already have one.
How Should a Spotify Group Session End?
A Spotify Group Session can be ended in two simple steps:
- Step 1: At the bottom of the Spotify screen, tap the Connect Device icon.
- Step 2: Choose either “Leave session” or “End session.”
How Do I Link Spotify to Discord?
Here’s a guide to connecting Spotify to Discord.
- Step 1: Download and launch the Discord app on your desktop.
- Step 2: Select “Connections” from the left-hand menu.
- Step 3: Select the “Spotify” logo.
- Step 4: When prompted, confirm that you want to connect Discord to Spotify.
How Can You View Your Friend’s Activity?
If you go to their Spotify profiles, you’ll see some relevant information shared by your friend.
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How To Listen to Spotify With Friends: References
