How can I see what my friends are listening to on Spotify?

Enable the 'listening activity' feature in your Spotify Settings under 'Privacy & Social' to share your real-time music streams with friends via Messages.

What is a Spotify Jam session?

A Jam session is a collaborative listening feature where Premium users can invite friends to add tracks to a shared queue and listen together in real time.

Are Spotify's new social features available for all users?

The new features are available for users aged 16 and older. Free users can join Jam sessions when invited by a Premium user.

Home / Technology / Spotify's New Chat: Share Music Live!

Spotify's New Chat: Share Music Live!

7 Jan

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Summary

New Messages feature allows real-time friend activity sharing.
Premium users can initiate collaborative listening sessions called Jams.
Features are for users 16 and older, rolling out globally soon.

Spotify has introduced a new Messages feature designed to increase user engagement and retention by enabling real-time sharing of listening activity among friends. This functionality allows users to see what their contacts are streaming and directly react to or play the music. Users must enable "listening activity" in their settings for this feature to work.

Additionally, Spotify Premium subscribers can now request to start "Jams," collaborative listening sessions where participants can add to a shared queue. This feature is designed to foster a more interactive music-sharing experience within the platform itself, encouraging users to stay on Spotify rather than sharing links externally. Both new features are set to be widely available on iOS and Android by early February.

These social updates, including the Messages feature launched in August 2025, signal Spotify's commitment to evolving into a more social application. The company is focusing on keeping interactions within its ecosystem, a strategy aimed at improving user retention metrics and potentially attracting more paying subscribers. The features are restricted to users aged 16 and above.