Spotify Makes New Desktop Miniplayer a Premium Feature

Spotify introduced this week a new Miniplayer on its desktop app, which has been a popular request from users (via Engadget). However, the new feature is currently only available for Spotify Premium subscribers.

The new Miniplayer lets desktop users access playback controls and tweak the volume for music on podcasts in a small floating window. The Miniplayer can also be resized into a square or a small rectangle depending on how you need to manage your screen space throughout the day.

While the Miniplayer currently lacks a progress bar, the new feature makes it easy to shuffle the queue or remove a song or podcast episode from a user’s library. Moreover, clicking on the artist name, song name, or album art in the Miniplayer will open results in the main Spotify app, which remains accessible at all times.

If you have a Spotify Premium subscription, the new Miniplayer can be opened by clicking on the new icon at the bottom right corner of the desktop app, right between the volume and the full screen buttons. It’s a bit unfortunate that a feature you may consider pretty basic is currently locked behind a Premium subscription, though keep in mind that the main Spotify app is where the company shows ads to free users.