Spotify is taking its Spotify Connect features to the next level with social integration. The company is working on a new feature called Social Listening that will allow users to listen along with their friends.
Spotify already lets you see what your friends are listening to via Friends Activity, but there’s no way to sync playback and listen to exactly what your friend is listening to. This new feature will allow you to connect with your friends and listen to the same things they are listening to, add your own tracks, and even control playback from your phone.
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App research Jane Manchun Wong first spotted the upcoming feature, which will work via a code that you simply have to scan. Once you scan your friend’s code, you will be able to listen along with them, add tracks to play next, and control playback. Spotify Connect will also tell you how many people are listening along with you at a time.
When connected to Spotify's Social Listening, you will show up on the "Already connected" list
The "Now Playing" UI will show the amount of friends listening
(friend's identity here replaced with mine for privacy) pic.twitter.com/Fo5rdH3xGO
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 31, 2019
You also don’t have to connect to a friend everytime you want to listen along with them — they will instead show up under the “Already Connected” list where you can connect with them much quicker. You’ll also be able to share links that allow others to join you, instead of having to scan the code.
Spotify’s Social Listening feature sounds very promising, and it could be a major hit, especially amongst teens.