- Spotify is getting a new direct messages feature in “select markets”
- It will let you share music, podcasts and audiobooks with friends
- The feature will be available for both free and Premium subscribers
Spotify has announced a surprise new feature for both free and Premium subscribers – the ability to send direct messages to friends on the mobile app.
The Messages feature has landed to encourage you to share music, podcast and audiobook recommendations with friends. But rather than merely letting you share links, the feature will be a full-blown messaging app within Spotify on iOS and Android.
One key detail is missing – Spotify says the feature is rolling out to free and Premium users aged 16 or older this week “in select markets on mobile devices”, but it hasn’t yet specified which markets. We’ve asked Spotify for clarification regarding availability, and we’ll update this story when we hear back.
You’ll be able to access Spotify messages in a few ways. Your messages history will live in your profile section in the top-left corner of the app. When you’ve accepted a message request, you’ll then able to react with emojis and send text messages, much like a WhatsApp DM.
Naturally, Spotify will be encouraging you to send messages throughout the app too. In the Now Playing view, which is already fairly cluttered, the share icon will also give you the option of sending a message to a friend.
How does Spotify plan to prevent Messages from becoming a spam-fest? For starters, you’ll be able to opt out of the feature entirely in the app’s Settings. You’ll also get the option to accept or reject messages, block other users, or report offending messages.
Spotify also says messages are protected by “industry-standard encryption”, though it doesn’t specify what that is. The streaming service will also use “proactive detection technology to scan messages for certain unlawful and harmful content”, which may put off many from sharing anything beyond their new favorite song.
Analysis: a blast from the past, but not the HiFi future many want
It’s almost exactly 15 years since Apple announced the ill-fated iTunes Ping, a “music-oriented social network” designed for “following your favorite artists and friends to discover what music they’re talking about”.
While Spotify Messages isn’t quite the same thing, taking the private DM route rather than public social network, it does feel motivated by the same desires. Namely, to keep you glued to Spotify’s own app, rather than sharing your favorite tunes in the likes of WhatsApp.
Spotify had a similar feature to Messages back in its very early days, but it was too long ago for most current users to remember. As someone who’s been paying for Spotify for the last decade, I don’t see myself using the feature much when it’s so easy to share links on dedicated messaging apps – and the initial reaction from Spotify fans has been frosty.
Comments on the likes of Reddit are bemoaning the “feature creep” within Spotify’s app, which is something I wrote about a couple of years ago when it added its TikTok-style vertical scroll.
Responding to Spotify’s announcement on X, other users are continuing their cries to “bring HiFi”, referring to the long-awaited lossless audio plan. There’s still a chance that Spotify could deliver that in 2025, with rumors earlier this year pointing to the launch of a Music Pro plan.
That speculation suggested the plan could give you lossless audio, concert ticket deals and AI-powered remixing tools (which sound a lot like Spotify’s new Mix tool), for an extra $6 on top of the $12-per-month Premium plan (or an additional £6 in the UK and AU$7 in Australia).
However, it’s been several months since those rumors, so I don’t blame fellow Spotify fans for getting antsy when the service prioritizes new features like Messages that few have been asking for.
Messages could ultimately prove popular with some, but I’d wager that most users have (like me) already established their music-sharing habits on the likes of WhatsApp – and Messages could become yet another feature that dilutes Spotify’s increasingly broad offering, prompting many to look at alternatives among the best music streaming services.
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mark.wilson@futurenet.com (Mark Wilson)
