Spotify introduces Request to Jam and Listening Activity features: Here’s how to use them

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• Spotify adds Listening Activity and Request to Jam for interactive music sharing
• Users can share current or recent tracks in private Messages with Listening Activity.
• Premium users can now invite friends to live collaborative listening sessions.

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Spotify has rolled out two new social features—Listening Activity and Request to Jam—aimed at making music sharing and collaborative listening more interactive within its Messages experience. The updates allow users to see what friends are listening to in real time and quickly turn those moments into shared listening sessions.

What is Listening Activity on Spotify

Listening Activity lets users share what they are currently streaming with friends and family they have already connected with on Spotify Messages. If a user is not actively listening at a given moment, their most recently played track appears instead. The feature is opt-in, giving users full control over whether their listening activity is visible.

Once enabled, Listening Activity appears in the chat row of the side drawer and at the top of individual Messages conversations. Friends can tap on the activity card to start playback, add tracks to their library, open the track menu, or react using emojis. Spotify says the feature is designed to provide a real-time snapshot of music discovery without broadcasting activity publicly.

How to turn on Listening Activity

To enable Listening Activity, users need to open Spotify’s Privacy and social settings from the side drawer next to the “View profile” option. After switching it on, listening updates will automatically appear in Messages chats. The activity is only shared with people the user has already messaged, and it can be turned off at any time from the same settings menu.

What is Request to Jam

Request to Jam builds on Spotify’s existing Jam feature by allowing Premium users to invite friends or family into a live listening session directly from Messages. The idea is to make it easier to move from seeing what someone is listening to into listening together in real time.

When a Jam request is accepted, the recipient becomes the host of the session. Both participants can add tracks to a shared queue, listen simultaneously, and chat while the music plays. Spotify notes that free users can also join a Jam when invited by a Premium subscriber.

How to use Request to Jam

To start a Jam, Premium users can open a Messages chat and tap the Jam option in the top-right corner. The recipient receives a request, which they can accept or decline. Once accepted, the Jam session begins, and both users can collaboratively manage the music queue and listen together.