Spotify Users Can Now Send Direct Messages to Each Other to Share Music, Podcasts

Spotify has announced that its users, whether they have a free or a premium account, will be able to send each other direct messages to each other soon. The company said that the feature will be rolled out in select markets starting this week. Unfortunately, when the new feature will be available in India is currently unknown. Users will be able to recommend songs, podcasts, and audiobooks to others within the app, without having to share the same through other social media platforms.

Spotify Free Users, Premium Subscribers Can Access Direct Messages

Starting this week, Spotify will start rolling out a new feature that allows both free and premium users to send direct messages to each other within the app. The online music streaming company will first roll out the feature in select markets for users aged 16 years and above. It will initially be available on the Spotify app for iOS and Android.

The company has yet to reveal whether it will come to other platforms, like Spotify for Windows, macOS, the PlayStation 5. It is also unclear when the feature will eventually make its way to accounts in India.

Using the new direct messages feature, Spotify users will be able to recommend music, podcasts, and audiobooks to each other, and react to the recommendations sent to them by their friends and family members with text messages and emojis. The option to send a direct message will appear in the Now Playing View, from where a user can tap on the share icon, select the person they want to send the recommendation to, and click on send.

Spotify will then send a message request to the recipient. To start a conversation without recommending music, users can tap on another person's profile picture, which appears in the top left corner of the screen, to initiate a new chat.

Spotify will also recommend people to send messages to based on things like whether a user has sent a message to a particular person, joined Jams with them, or has collaborated on playlists together. Additionally, the app would also show family members and friends with whom a person shared a Family or Duo plan.

The music streaming service might be looking to retain users' attention with the direct messages feature, but it will still allow people to share music, podcasts, and other audio content available on Spotify with others through popular social media platforms.

Spotify says conversations on direct messages will be encrypted, but stopped short of saying whether this includes end to end encryption (E2EE). It will “utilise proactive detection technology to scan messages” to hinder people from sending unlawful and harmful content to others. Reported content will be reviewed by Spotify's moderators, according to the company.