Spotify is adding more social features to keep users engaged within its app, rather than sharing music on other platforms.
The company announced on Wednesday that it is rolling out new tools within its Messages feature, allowing users to see what their friends are listening to in real-time and request collaborative listening sessions called Jams.
Once users enable the “listening activity” option from the Privacy and Social section in Settings, their current track will appear at the top of message conversations. Friends can tap the activity to instantly play the song, save it to their library, open more options, or react using emojis. This makes music discovery faster and more interactive without leaving the chat.
Spotify is also making it easier to start Jams, its group listening feature. Premium users can send a Jam request directly from the Messages screen. If the other person accepts, they become the Jam host, and both users can add songs to a shared queue and listen together in real time. Free users can still join Jams when invited by a Premium subscriber.
The Listening Activity and Request to Jam features are rolling out to Spotify’s iOS and Android apps in regions where Messages is available. Spotify says both features will be widely accessible in these markets by early February. Since Messages is only available to users aged 16 and older, the new social tools are also limited to that age group.
Spotify introduced Messages in August 2025 as part of its push to become a more social platform. While users have long shared Spotify links through apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, these updates show Spotify’s growing focus on keeping conversations, music discovery, and shared listening experiences inside its own ecosystem. Messages currently support one-on-one chats only and are limited to people you have previously interacted with through playlists, Jams, or Blends. Although messages are encrypted during storage and transfer, they do not use end-to-end encryption.
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